The tank can go from zero to 20 mph in seven seconds. Acceleration is the engine’s main feature. This enables a speed of 44 miles per hour on roads and a range of 267 miles. The Black Panther has a 1,500-horsepower MTU EuroPowerPack engine.
One hundred K2 tanks were delivered by 2016. By 2007, Rotem was partnering with 20 other defense firms to build the new tank, and the first prototype was ready that year. The South Korean bureau tasked to work with Rotem on the K2 spent $230 million over the next 12 years. This was an effort to replace the older K1 and American M47-M48 tanks. The K2 was an outgrowth of the XK2 program that began in 1995. The K2 Black Panther is made by Hyundai Rotem, and it was introduced in 2016. Losses in a future conflict would be extreme, so any type of armored vehicle put to use needs to be survivable and powerful, with the ability to deal out a high level of punishment to the enemy. That starts with the terrain surrounding Korea’s Demilitarized Zone – it is hilly and rocky, which gives both sides places to hide their tanks and set up ambushes. North Korea is believed to have an army of 1.2 million personnel. Just to give you an idea of how high the stakes are, there are at least 500,000 ROK troops in service at any time.
Their cold war with North Korea could break into fighting at any moment. ROK soldiers need to be able to fight hard on the ground with the best weapons available. What makes the K2 so great? First, some background. Poland will also help manufacture another 820 K2 variants customized for its military, making for a total of 1,000 tanks from South Korea.
Poland was not deterred by the price – Warsaw just finalized a $15 billion deal with South Korea to buy 180 K2s that will arrive later this year. However, it is expensive, at $8.5 million per tank. It is arguably the most advanced tank in the world, and South Korea troops swear by it. The K2 is the world’s only fourth-generation tank. If there were no M1A2 Abrams tanks available and I had to choose another main battle tank, I would go with South Korea’s K2 “Black Panther.
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