Kundağı Motorlu Topçu = Self-propelled Artillery (SpA)
Kundağı Motorlu Obüs = Self-propelled Howitzer (SpH)
Firtina = Tempest (most often loosely translated as storm, but a Tempest is an English word for a particularly violent storm, which artillery bombardments certainly are)
Turkey’s T-155 Firtina (Tempest) is a co-development with Republic of Korea’s (South Korea) K9 Thunder. The turret of the T-155 looks more like that of the Panzerhaubitze, than the K9. In 2012, an Israeli news outlet reported that the US$1-billion Kundağı Motorlu Topçu deal, between Turkey and South Korea, allowed Turkey to modify the K9 as it saw fit, which included systems designed by Germany.
Photo via Turkish Land Forces (Türk Kara Kuvvetleri).
T-155 Firtina (not the upgraded version, identified by the .50-cal mount on the TC position) on Polatlı Training Area, Turkey, 09SEP2021.
U.S. Army video by Staff Sergeant Christopher Stewart, Firtina maneuvers on Polatlı Training Area, about 16SEP2021:
An upgraded Firtina II was delivered in January 2021. The main identifier of the Firtina-2 is the ASELSAN (“a Turkish Armed Forces company”) designed remote controlled .50 caliber heavy machine gun (Remote Controlled Weapon Station, RCWS), mounted on the top-left rear of the turret, the manually operated .50-cal was mounted on the Tank Commander’s position.
Prototype Firtina-II.
Also, note the large vent on the front left of the turret, to keep all those new electronics cool.
Photo via ASELSAN.
Photo via ASELSAN.
T-155 in the town of Binnish in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, 12FEB2020. Photo by Omar Haj Kadour, Agence France-Presse.
T-155 pounds targets in Northern Syria, October 2019.
Firtina pounding targets in Syria, January 2019.
Ammo-supply vehicle for T-155.
The T-155 has its ammunition delivered by the POYRAZ Ammunition Resupply Vehicle.
Photo via ASELSAN.
This 2018 Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri (Turkish Armed Forces) promotional video has scenes of T-155:
2017 Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri video mainly of the T-155:
In 2016, Turkish taxpayer owned MKEK (Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi Kurumu, Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation) patented two new systems for controlling and loading of the main gun.
T-155 destroyed by Kurdish-YPG Russian made Konkurs anti-tank missile, somewhere in Syria. However, Islamic State has also been taking credit for destroying Turkish tanks inside Syria.
This 2015 Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri promo-video has scenes of T-155, about 41 seconds in:
T-155s fire upon YPG targets north of Aleppo, Syria.
2012 photo via Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri.
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