South Korean 'new' MBT

Photos have been available for a couple of years but I think this is the forst 'in production' photos. Easily the equal of the Type-99, based on the French leclerc.

Prototype (old pic)


New pics

I thought the K-2 was heavily influenced by the M1?

To a point I think. The chassis is defeinately not 'pure' Leclerc and the gun of course is different, but the turret I think is Giat (maker of Leclerc). If I'm wrong please correct me.

Here's the Turkish MBT, note the turret similarities

Given US influences in the Korean military procurement circle, I highly doubt that GIAT would have any slice of the pie in spotlight projects.

I'll check up on this.

eecsmaster said:

Given US influences in the Korean military procurement circle, I highly doubt that GIAT would have any slice of the pie in spotlight projects.

I'll check up on this.

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Ever heard of Thales? Warship building is mainly French (/European) although obviously they tend to have US/indigenous sensor/weapons.

korean(ROK) can manufacture Mordern MBT same quality as famous M1,leapard,chieftain,Marcarva4,T72 vaint types .
I noticed that Tanks makers always keep as secret which type of armour used in their tanks.Most tanks from USSR and china use torsion bars but rich
country like japan,germany use hydrolic suspension.
which type of armour & chansis use in ROK MBT?
I believe that MBT are also important in mobile technology.
ROK young generation study at US and UK top 10 universities,So their next military hardware and avionic,mechantronic ,etc which will be better than China by western educated citizens of ROK .ROK will be one of military products exporter from asia.

1. Tank armour technology is a secret. If someone knows the composition of your armour, they can devise ways of defeating it quicker.

2. The K2 apparently uses a hydropneumatic suspension unit, which allows the tank to kneel, lean, and sit.

Here's a video:


Quoting a Korean friend, it looks like a combination of Swedish (S-Tank) hydropneumatic suspension, German gun/engine, American fire control, Russian snorkle, French auto-loader, etc.

It's buitl for Korea's local environment in mind. Lots of mountains, hills, waterways, etc. In terms of combat capability, I think even the older K1 is better than whatever the North Koreans are using.

Given the economic situation in North Korea, you can safely say North Koreans don't use any tanks because they have no oil. North Koreans also don't use fighter jets or anything else that consumes oil, including trucks - they are a foot army.

That ROK tank looks nice, but seems a little big for traveling in mountains and rivers. A light tank or IFV might be more suitable. I heard the Japanese are also developing a new MBT - seems everyone wants to stay ahead of the game.

Ryz05 said:

Given the economic situation in North Korea, you can safely say North Koreans don't use any tanks because they have no oil. North Koreans also don't use fighter jets or anything else that consumes oil, including trucks - they are a foot army.

That ROK tank looks nice, but seems a little big for traveling in mountains and rivers. A light tank or IFV might be more suitable. I heard the Japanese are also developing a new MBT - seems everyone wants to stay ahead of the game.

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Actually DPRK produces a variant of the T-55/Type59 that mounts a 2A46 125mm gun.

The new RoK tank mount s licnded built RhM120 L/55 like the leo 2a6/leo 2E. it has both active and passive anti-missile systems and uses a mix of composite armor and ERA. it is a very modern tank but does have a couple of critical flaws such as a small ready use ammo storage of only 16+1 and only three men in the crew (crew fatigue issues etc)