Hyundai Rotem secures $820 mn deal to supply K2 Black Panther main battle tanks to South Korea

a
Defence & Security Industry News - Hyundai Rotem
 
 
Monday, December 29, 2014 10:48 AM
 
Hyundai Rotem inks a $820 mn deal to supply K2 Black Panther main battle tanks to South Korea
South Korean tank maker Hyundai Rotem Co. said Monday it has signed a deal to supply 901.5 billion won (US$820.29 million) worth of battle tanks to the country's arms procurement agency. In November 2014, the country's Defense Acquisition and Procurement Agency announced that South Korea will deploy around 100 of its indigenously-built K-2 Black Panther main battle tanks (MBTs) by 2017.
     
South Korean tank maker Hyundai Rotem Co. said Monday it has signed a deal to supply 901.5 billion won (US$820.29 million) worth of battle tanks to the country's arms procurement agency. In November 2014, the country's Defense Acquisition and Procurement Agency announced that South Korea will deploy around 100 of its indigenously-built K-2 Black Panther main battle tanks (MBTs) by 2017. South Korean Army's K2 Black Panther main battle tanks
     
Under the agreement signed with the Defense Acquisition and Procurement Agency (DAPA), Hyundai Rotem will build and provide the South Korean main battle tank, the K2 Black Panther, to the local army by 2017, the company said.

"The K-2 battle tank will allow the military to have advanced combat vehicles with improved mobility and firepower fit for future environments," DAPA spokesman Kim Si-cheol was quioted as saying by the official Yonhap news agency.

"We can overcome numerical inferiority compared to North Korea with this high-quality battle tank, and we expect the K-2 to be actively exported to foreign markets," the official added.

Mass production of the new-generation MBT, set to replace the aging K-1 and US-built M48 tanks, was originally planned to begin in 2009, but faulty indigenous engines and transmission of the tanks halted the production.

Despite some controversy, the Joint Chiefs of Staff lowered the bar for its acceleration performance, paving the way for its deployment, Yonhap said.