South Korean tanks make North Korea 'uneasy'

The K2 Black Panther has a state-of-the-art fire control system and top-secret composite armor that can withstand direct 120mm bullets. It is the tank that North Korea fears the most today, according to National Interest.

The K2 Black Panther is the tank that North Korea fears the most today.

The K2 Black Panther is a main battle tank developed from the XK2 program. Development of the K2 began in 1995, with the first prototype revealed in 2007. The main contractor is Hyundai Rotem, which put the K2 into production in 2009.

The K2 can cross rivers and streams up to 4.2 meters deep thanks to a special snorkel. This is a feature that the K1 tank does not have. The Black Panther tank has a very special suspension system that can adjust the height of the vehicle at many different angles. This feature gives the K2 tank many advantages in combat compared to traditional suspension systems.

South Korea began thinking about modern battle tanks in the late 1970s when North Korea began fielding T-62s armed with 115mm guns, far outclassing South Korea's M-48 Pattons with 90mm guns.

As a result, the US assisted South Korea in assembling an Abrams tank called the K1. The K1, like the original Abrams, was initially equipped with a 105mm gun. However, the K1 was smaller than the Abrams and it had a diesel engine rather than a gas turbine engine.

The K1 also bears an uncanny resemblance to the American Abrams tank, which is why the K1 is still called "baby Abrams" by the US military in Korea.

But South Korea owns very little of the technology behind the K1. Eighty percent of the components come from other countries, mostly the United States. So while the K1 – still in service – is far superior to anything in North Korea, South Korea wants a new, domestically designed tank that can outclass any North Korean threat.

Furthermore, the Koreans wanted to own all the technology so they could export it. The result was the K2 Black Panther.

Development began in 1995 and cost $260 million. Ultimately, South Korea designed a tank on paper with modern specifications similar to those of current NATO tanks. However, South Korea’s export dreams were hampered by the $8.5 million price tag of each K2.

The K2 reaches a top speed of 70 km/h on paved roads, 50 km/h on rough roads, with a range of about 480 km.

In order to meet the strict requirements of the Korean military, the contractor equipped the K2 with the world's leading advanced technology, making it the most expensive tank on the planet. The Korean military set very high requirements for the XK2 program. The contractor had to develop a main battle tank with superior features compared to other tanks in the region. In particular, it had to have overwhelming power compared to North Korea's main battle tanks.

Black Panther uses a 1,500 horsepower MTU MB-883 Ka500 diesel engine. This powertrain helps the K2 reach a maximum speed of 70 km/h on paved roads, 50 km/h on rough roads, with a range of about 480 km.

The main weapon of the K2 Black Panther is the L55 120 mm smoothbore main gun, which is manufactured in Korea under license from Germany. The L55 is the best tank gun in the world today. Secondary weapons include a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun mounted to the left of the main gun, a 12.7 mm machine gun mounted on the roof of the turret.

The K2 Black Panther uses an automatic loader similar to the French Leclerc tank, allowing for a rate of fire of 15 rounds per minute. The main gun has 16 shells on the automatic loader, the rest are stored behind the turret. The total number of shells carried is up to 40.

The manufacturer equipped the K2 Black Panther with an extremely advanced fire control system that allows it to track and attack ground and air targets. The main gun has a range of up to 10 km, allowing the K2 Black Panther to take down low-flying helicopters.

The most outstanding feature of the K2 Black Panther is its fire control system that can automatically track and attack pre-programmed targets without the need for combat crew intervention.

Faced with unique threats and terrain that is not tank-friendly, South Korea has adapted technology from around the world, as well as its own innovations, to create weapons tailored to its unique needs and environments. This has scared North Korea, and in a hypothetical war between the two Koreas, North Korea would always feel uneasy when mentioning South Korea's K2 Black Panther.

According to Danviet