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K21 | |
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![]() K21 on combat firing practice | |
Type | Infantry fighting vehicle |
Place of origin | South Korea |
Service history | |
In service | 2009–present |
Production history | |
Designer | Agency for Defense Development |
Designed | 1999–2008 |
Manufacturer | Hanwha Defense (originally Daewoo Heavy Industries, later renamed as Doosan DST, follow by Hanwha Defense Systems) |
Unit cost | $3.2 million |
Produced | 2009–present |
No. built | 466[1] |
Specifications | |
Mass | 25.6 t (25.2 long tons; 28.2 short tons) |
Length | 6.9 m (23 ft) |
Width | 3.4 m (11 ft) |
Height | 2.6 m (8.5 ft) |
Crew | 3 crew + 9 passengers |
Armor | 2519 aluminium alloy chassis. Layers consisting of S2 glass fiber reinforced Al2O3 ceramic armour
All round protection against 14.5×114mm API projectiles as well as 20 mm FSP Frontal armour is resistant to 30 mm APDS rounds fired from a 2A72 autocannon (standard on BMP-3 turrets) Roof armour is resistant to 155 mm artillery shell fragments Soft- and hard-kill anti-missile defense systems, ERA, NERA (only for the K21 PIP) |
Main armament | SNT Dynamics K40 40 mm autocannon (240 rounds)[2] Two Raybolt ATGM launchers (planned) |
Secondary armament | 7.62 mm M60 GPMG |
Engine | Doosan- D2840LXE diesel 750 hp (840 hp for the PIP) |
Power/weight | 29.2 hp/tonne |
Suspension | Passive in-arm suspension unit (ISU) |
Operational range | 500 km (310 mi) |
Maximum speed | 70 km/h (43 mph) (road) 40 km/h (25 mph) (cross-country) 7 km/h (4.3 mph; 3.8 kn) (water) |
The K21 is a South Korean infantry fighting vehicle. A replacement for the K200-series, it was formerly designated as K300 or XK21 KNIFV (Korea Next-generation Infantry Fighting Vehicle). The initial production began in 2009, with the Republic of Korea Army planning to field approximately 466 units. It is designed to effectively defeat other IFVs as heavily armed and armored as the BMP-3.[3]