To quote Military Today again, “Currently the K2 is one of the most advanced main battle tanks in the world, outclassing anything North Korea or China have.”Īrguably the best tank in the so-called Korean People’s Army arsenal is the Pokpung-ho (“Storm Tiger”) IV, which some wags have claimed possesses the “most terrible firepower in the world.” To put it bluntly, North Korea has nothing that compares to the K2. Moreover, as my colleague Harrison Kass points out, the K2 has a snorkel system that can take in 500 gallons of water, helping the tank sink down and maintain traction on the muddy river bottom while the turret stays watertight. With its combination of modular composite armor and Explosive Reactive Armor blocks, the frontal glacis can reportedly withstand direct hits from 120mm tank rounds. One of the major selling points for this mechanical Panther is its survivability. Warsaw made a deal least year to acquire 980 Black Panthers, the first of which have already been delivered. The K2 has left a sufficiently positive impression that it’s earned export customers in Turkey - beating out the French Leclerc and German Leopard 2 - and in Poland. The three-person crew (commander, gunner and driver) can traverse paved roads in their beloved beast at a max speed of 70 km/h, and they can offroad at 50 km/h. 50 caliber machine gun and a 7.62x51mm NATO coaxial machine gun. Armament consists of a Hyundai WIA CN08 120mm smoothbore main gun, backed up by the “ Ma Deuce ” Browning M2. The K2 weighs in at 55 tons, with a hull length of 7.5 meters, an overall length of 10.8 meters, a height of 2.4 meters, and a width of 3.6 meters. That reliance on completely indigenous technology sets the tank apart from the K1 series of MBTs, which were based on the American M1 Abrams.

In 2016 a first batch of 100 tanks was reportedly delivered and additional tanks were being built.” Production contract for the first 100 K2 tanks was signed in 2014.

Since then this tank was trialed and evaluated. This next-generation MBT was developed in South Korea using indigenous technology only. K2 Black Panther Early History and SpecificationsĪccording to Military Today, “The K2 Black Panther main battle tank evolved from the XK2 programme.

K2 black panther main battle tanks