T-155 Fırtına ( Turkish for ''Storm'') is a Turkish variant of

K9 Thunder The K9 Thunder is a South Korean 155 mm self-propelled howitzer designed and developed by the Agency for Defense Development and civil contractors including Dongmyeong Heavy Industries, Kia Heavy Industry, Poongsan Corporation, and Samsung Aer ...

155 mm 155 mm (6.1 in) is a common, NATO-standard, artillery caliber. It is defined in AOP-29 part 1 with reference to STANAG 4425. It is commonly used in field guns, howitzers, and gun-howitzers. Land warfare The caliber originated in France after ...

self-propelled howitzer Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled m ...

co-developed with

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

utilizing Turkish technology and design into existing K9 Thunder. It is manufactured and assembled by

Turkish Land Forces The Turkish Land Forces ( tr, Türk Kara Kuvvetleri), or Turkish Army (Turkish: ), is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The army was formed on November 8, 1920, after the collapse of the ...

at the 1010th Army Equipment Repair Factory using imported subsystems from Korea. It has an ongoing upgrade project dubbed as T-155 Fırtına II, possibly changing its engine to Ukraine origin to avoid Germany's restriction on Turkey's defense sales.

Development

General characteristics

The T-155 retains most of the K9's features, such as the CN98 155 mm

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, ...

and

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

, produced through the

technology transfer Technology transfer (TT), also called transfer of technology (TOT), is the process of transferring (disseminating) technology from the person or organization that owns or holds it to another person or organization, in an attempt to transform invent ...

Agency for Defense Development The Agency for Defense Development (ADD) is the South Korean national agency for research and development in defense technology, funded by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). It was established in August 1970 under the banner ...

(ADD) in

. However, its turret reflects original Turkish design, increasing both ammunition capacity and combat weight, thus reducing power to weight ratio. APU (auxiliary power unit) is installed while commander's panoramic sight is removed. Parts of the chassis, the INS (inertial navigation system), and electronic systems such as the radio and FCS (fire control system) were developed in Turkey. Inertial Navigation system was produced by ASELSAN. The howitzer is able to determine the coordinates of the targets at 17.5 meters deviation. Fırtına can open fire within 30 seconds. The T-155 Fırtına has a maximum firing range of 40 km, depending on the type of ammunition. It can reach a top speed of 66 km/h. The gun is produced by

MKEK The Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation ( tr, Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi or MKE for short), established in 1950, is a reorganization of government-controlled group of factories in Turkey that supplied the Turkish Armed Forces with mili ...

under license by transferring the production technology of the K9's CN98 155 mm barrel from ADD. The production rate of the T-155 is 24 units per year. More than 350 T-155 Fırtına howitzers were planned to be produced. 281 have been delivered between 2005 and 2010. An upgraded version dubbed "Firtina 2" was to begin production in 2017, featuring improvement to range and rate of fire. The new vehicles were to be fitted with remote weapons stations capable of carrying 12.7mm, 7.62mm machine guns and 40 mm grenade launchers.

Poyraz Ammunition Resupply Vehicle

The Poyraz Ammunition Resupply Vehicle (ARV) is an indigenous vehicle with an ammunition transfer system similar to that of the South Korean K10 ARV. The vehicle has a boom that is extended towards the rear of the T-155 Fırtına turret, where the resupply takes place. The Poyraz ARV has an

auxiliary power unit An auxiliary power unit (APU) is a device on a vehicle that provides energy for functions other than propulsion. They are commonly found on large aircraft and naval ships as well as some large land vehicles. Aircraft APUs generally produce 115& ...

, which the K10 ARV lacks, that allows the vehicle's crew to use electronics and communication systems, and to run an ammunition transfer system economically without the main engines being turned on. The Poyraz ARV can carry up to 96 155 mm shells and is able to transfer 48 shells in 20 minutes. It has a range of 360 km.

Operational history

The T-155 Fırtına was first deployed in Turkey's

Operation Sun The 2008 Turkish incursion into northern Iraq, code-named Operation Sun ( tr, Güneş Harekatı) by the Turkish Armed Forces, began on February 21, 2008, when the Turkish Army sent troops into northern Iraq to target the Kurdistan Workers' Part ...

at the end of 2007 into January 2008 to fight the

PKK The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of sout ...

militants in the northern part of Iraq. It was used in 2012 Syrian–Turkish border clashes and again during both the Jarabulus offensive (2016) and the Afrin offensive (2018).

Operators

Current operators

* Turkey originally planned to manufacture 350 Fırtına, 280 for Turkish Army and 70 for future customer, by 2011 per agreement with South Korea in exchange for free technology transfer from the Agency for Defense Development of South Korea. Turkey built 280 for its military use only.

Future operators

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:T-155 Firtina 155 mm artillery Tracked self-propelled howitzers Self-propelled howitzers of Turkey South Korea–Turkey relations Military vehicles introduced in the 2000s