Tag: K2

It is amazing how long it has been taking for the Koreans to figure out how to domestically produce one of their key defense systems:

South Korea’s arms acquisition agency has decided to equip third batch of K2 Black Panther main battle tanks with a German transmission system, a part of the tank’s power pack that includes a locally developed engine.

The decision is a blow to a 15-yearlong effort to replace the German RENK transmission system with an indigenous one, which local industry expected would pave the way for exporting the tank. (…….)

The failure in local transmission development has also caused setbacks for the tank’s deployment in the South Korean Army.

The Black Panther was co-developed by the state-run Agency for Defense Development and Hyundai Rotem, a defense business arm of Hyundai Motor, to replace M48 Patton tanks and earlier models of K1 tanks that have been service since the 1980s. Prototypes were unveiled in 2007.

Mass production of the first 100 units was approved in 2011, with deployment scheduled for the following year, but the effort was delayed over a faulty engine and a lack of progress on a locally produced transmission. The government then decided to use the German-made power pack consisting of the MTU 883 diesel engine and RENK transmission system for the first batch.

The tanks entered service in 2014, and in that same year, local developers announced they succeeded in developing a 1,500-horsepower power pack that could be installed on the second batch of 100 tanks. However, the deployment of the second batch also faced delays, as the S&T Dynamics-made transmission system repeatedly failed to prove its reliability and durability under transmission production standards, which require a system to run without issue for 320 hours. The second batch of K2s were eventually delivered in 2019.

Defense News

You can read more at the link, but ROK Heads may remember that South Korea has been trying to export the K2 to Turkey. Due to the various delays, Turkey decided to instead conduct a technology transfer with South Korea to develop their own tank.

The ROK Army already has a 100 of this tanks deployed and are set to double their number by 2017:

The military plans to complete the deployment of some 100 next-generation tanks equipped with an indigenous engine and transmission by the year 2017, according to the arms procurement agency, Wednesday.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said the upgraded K-2 Black Panther will be deployed by the end of the year.

The decision came during a defense project committee meeting presided over by Defense Minister Han Min-koo.

The military has been postponing the deployment of the weapons system as it had failed Army requirements because of faulty components.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff decided to lower the standard for its acceleration performance, enabling the deployment of the advanced combat vehicle.

DAPA spokesman Kim Si-cheol explained that the deployment of the vehicle will help the military to strengthen its combat capability as they will have upgraded mobility and firepower suitable for any future warfare environment.

He expressed confidence with the equipment the military will be able to maintain upper hand over North Korea. “We also expect the new battle tanks will be exported more actively,” Kim said during a press briefing.  [Korea Times]

This is actually a very good tank for what the ROK Army needs it to do.  However, their biggest goal with the K2 has been to keep a production line open to sell these tanks to international customers like Turkey which is working with the ROK to co-develop their new Altay main battle tank.

Lawmakers of the National Assembly Defense Committee inspect the K2 main battle tank built by Hyundai Rotem during their visit to the company’s plant in Changwon, southeast South Korea, on Oct. 22, 2014. (Yonhap)