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

Source