K2 Black Panther | |
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![]() K2 Black Panthers of the 11th Maneuver Division of the Republic of Korea Army in tank field training | |
Type | Main battle tank |
Place of origin | South Korea |
Service history | |
In service | 2014–present |
Used by | See Operators |
Production history | |
Designer | Agency for Defense Development Doosan Mottrol Hyundai Rotem Poongsan Corporation Samsung Thales Samyang Comtech WIA |
Designed | 1995–2008 |
Manufacturer | Hyundai Rotem |
Unit cost | ₩7.8 billion (production batch 1)[1] US$8.5 million (constant 2009 USD) |
Produced | 2008–present |
No. built | Lot 1: 100 Lot 2: 106[2] Lot 3: 54[3] Lot 4: 150 (planned)[4] Total: 410 |
Specifications | |
Mass | Combat weight: 56 metric tons (55 long tons; 62 short tons)[5] |
Length | Overall: 10.8 meters (35 ft 5 in) Chassis: 7.5 meters (24 ft 7 in) |
Width | 3.6 meters (11 ft 10 in) |
Height | Highest: 2.4 meters (7 ft 10 in) Lowest: 2 meters (6 ft 7 in) |
Crew | 3 (commander, gunner and driver) |
Armor | POSCO MIL-12560H armor steel and Samyang Comtech silicon carbide non oxide ceramic plate along with ERA and NERA modular add-on armor in addition to soft-kill and hard-kill active protection systems |
Main armament | Hyundai WIA CN08 120 mm 55 caliber smoothbore gun (40 rounds) |
Secondary armament | 1× 12.7×99mm (.50 BMG) K6 heavy machine gun (3,200 rounds) 1× 7.62×51mm NATO coaxial machine gun (12,000 rounds) |
Engine |
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Power/weight | 27.3 hp/t (20.35 kW/t)[5] |
Transmission |
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Suspension | Semi-active in-arm suspension unit (ISU) with dynamic track tension system (DTTS)[5] |
Fuel capacity | 1,296 liters (342 U.S. gal) |
Operational range | 450 km (280 mi)[5] |
Maximum speed | Paved road: 70 km/h (43 mph) Cross country: 50 km/h (31 mph)[5] Acceleration from 0–32 km/h (0–20 mph) in 7.47 seconds (MT883 Ka-501) or 8.77 seconds (DV27K) |
K2 Black Panther (Korean: K-2 흑표; Hanja: K-2 黑豹; RR: K-2 Heukpyo) is a South Korean main battle tank, designed by the Agency for Defense Development and manufactured by Hyundai Rotem. The tank's design began in the 1990s to meet the strategic requirements of the Republic of Korea Army's reform for three-dimensional, high-speed maneuver warfare[9] based on use of network-centric warfare.[10][11][12]
Mass production began in 2013, and the first K2s were deployed with the South Korean armed forces in July 2014.[13]