The K2 Black Panther is a South Korean fourth-generation main battle tank, developed from 1995 by the Agency for Defense Development and other South Korean firms and manufactured by Hyundai Rotem, with the first tanks entering service with the Republic of Korea Army in June 2014 as the country's first entirely domestically designed main battle tank. Armed with a 120mm smoothbore gun and built around network-centric combat systems including GPS and inertial navigation and an automated battlefield management system, the K2 also carries an advanced hydropneumatic suspension that lets the tank raise, lower or tilt its hull for tactical advantage and ford rivers up to about four meters deep using a snorkel. Poland has ordered more than 180 K2s as part of a major rearmament program, and the design has influenced other tanks including Turkey's Altay, extending South Korea's tank into a significant defense export alongside its home service.
Facts
Classification
Service Status Weapon Class Introduced Year Weapon Class
Weapon Class (category) FAQs
Why did the K2 Black Panther take until 2014 to enter service?
Work on the domestic powerpack delayed service after the rest of the tank was finished in 2008, and the first six tanks entered service on June 29, 2014.
Development began with a System Concept Research phase in 1995 and full scale development started in June 2003. Development of the vehicle other than its powerpack concluded in 2008 after army trials, but work on the domestic powerpack kept the tanks from entering service until 2012, when 100 EuroPowerPacks were implemented on the first production batch. The first six K2 tanks entered service with the Republic of Korea Army on June 29, 2014.
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Manufactured By
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Sources
1. Wikipedia: K2 Black Panther
WikipediaLede, paragraph 1, sentence 1 (partial)
is a South Korean fourth-generation main battle tank (MBT), designed by the Agency for Defense Development and manufactured by Hyundai Rotem.
Lede, paragraph 3, last sentence
The first 6 K2 Black Panthers entered service with the Republic of Korea Army on June 29, 2014.
Article text
The first 6 K2 Black Panthers entered service with the Republic of Korea Army on June 29, 2014.
Infobox: service
2014-present
Infobox: primary_armament
Hyundai WIA CN08 120 mm 55 caliber smoothbore gun (40 rounds, 16 available in the bustle autoloader)
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