With modern armored warfare, South Korea’s K2 Black Panther is one of the world’s best main battle tanks.
Of course, there is always debate on which is the “best,” but the K2 Black Panther has already earned its rightful place among many of the best, like the German Leopard 2 and British Challenger 2, and of course, the U.S. M1 Abrams.
The T-90 surprised many as one of the most expensive MBTs in the world, and it even costs about $8.5 million per piece.
The K2 Black Panther was designed by the South Korean Agency for Defense Development. Its production contract was won by Hyundai Rotem.
This is a huge step forward in South Korean defense capabilities. As Harrison Kass said, this tank is “a serious, cutting-edge piece of technology—the world’s first and only fourth-generation battle tank.”
K2 was designed to supplement the existing K1 series that has been serving since the late 1980s.
The K2 was born due to the persistent threat coming from North Korea. Even during the Korean War, South Korea used the light tanks donated by the Americans, which were the M24 Chaffee.
It could not gain anything from Soviet T-35-85s produced in North Korea.
Having failed post-war to obtain any M60A1 Patton MBT, South Korea began looking into the process of self-manufacturing her tanks; first K1 was initiated and a more advanced design came off as K2.
K2 Black Panther is equipped with a Rheinmetall 120mm L/55 smoothbore gun, licensed-produced in South Korea, and also is provided with an automatic loader that has been designed locally.
It can deliver ten to fifteen rounds per minute on uneven ground. K2 can be laden with all sorts of ammunition types but also employs the newly developed KSTAM (Korean Smart Top-Attack Munition) rounds.
Its secondary armament consists of a 12.7mm heavy machine gun and a 7.62mm machine gun.
Some of its advanced features are an auto-target detection and tracking system with a hunter-killer function; an electric gun and turret driving system, which gives the tank reduced hydraulic shock; and a suspension system that makes it very mobile.
The K2 is powered by a 1,500-horsepower diesel engine; MTU MB 883 Ka501 provides 43 miles per hour on roads and 31 miles per hour cross-country.
It is a stir in international geopolitics. Under the framework of a $5.8 billion contract, Poland is going to get the first batch of K2 Black Panther MBTs by December 2022, which will make it South Korea’s largest customer.
By 2025, South Korea would supply 180 K2 MBTs and further, there would be cooperation and technology transfer from South Korea to Poland.