Top Ten Main Battle Tanks #3
K2 Black Panther (Republic of Korea)
The K2 Black Panther (Hangul: K2 '흑표'; Hanja: K2 '黒豹') is a fourth generation South Korean main battle tank that will replace most of the various models of M48 Patton tanks and complement the K1 series of main battle tanks now fielded by the Republic of Korea. The mass production started in 2013 and the first K2 joined the armed forces in June 2014. A K2 costs over US$ 8.8 million per unit.
Type | Main battle tank |
---|---|
Place of origin | Republic of Korea |
Service history | |
In service | 2014–present |
Production history | |
Manufacturer | Hyundai Rotem |
Unit cost | ₩7.8 billion (production batch 1) US$ 8.5 million (constant 2009 USD) |
Produced | 2013–present |
Specifications | |
Weight | 55 t (54 long tons; 61 short tons) |
Length | Overall: 10.8 m (35 ft 5 in) Chassis : 7.5 metres (24 ft 7 in) |
Width | 3.6 metres (11 ft 10 in) |
Height | 2.4 metres (7 ft 10 in) |
Crew | 3 (commander, gunner, driver) |
Armor | Classified type of composite armour with ERA and NERA modular add-on armour in addition to soft-kill and hard-kill anti-missile defense systems |
Main
armament |
120 mm (4.72 in) 55 calibersmoothbore gun (40 rounds) |
Secondary
armament |
1× 12.7 mm (.50 caliber) K6 heavy machine gun (3,200 rounds) 1× 7.62 mm (.30 caliber) coaxial machine gun (12,000 rounds) |
Engine | 4-cycle, 12-cylinder water-cooled diesel 1,500 hp (1,100 kW) |
Power/weight | 27.2 hp/tonne |
Suspension | In-arm Suspension Unit |
Operational
range |
450 kilometres (280 mi) |
Speed | Paved road: 70 km/h (43 mph) Cross country: 50 km/h (31 mph) Acceleration from 0–32 km/h (0–20 mph) in 7 seconds |