[Exclusive] K2 Tank Equipped with 'Domestic Heart' for the First Time in 20 Years [Yang Nakgyu's Defence Club]

The K2 tank, regarded as a domestic luxury weapon, will be equipped with a ‘domestically produced powerpack.’ It has been 20 years since the development of the powerpack began. The powerpack is a term that combines the engine and transmission and is also called the ‘heart of the tank.’

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On the 20th, a government official said, “The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) held a project subcommittee meeting the day before and decided on the first option to install a domestic powerpack, and the final decision is expected to be made soon at the Defense Acquisition Program Promotion Committee.”

When the K2 tank was developed, the military planned to localize the powerpack as well to create a fully domestic tank. In 2005, 96.4 billion won (48.8 billion won for the engine + 47.6 billion won for the transmission) was allocated to develop a domestic powerpack. Subsequently, in October 2014, a domestic powerpack for the K2 tank was developed. However, the domestic powerpack was not installed during the second and third mass production phases of the K2 tank because the domestic transmission failed the durability test.

The durability test was conducted again from April to July this year. The durability test criteria for the 1,500-horsepower domestic transmission to be used in the K2 tank were 306 hours and 9,200 km of continuous operation. The test was not fully met. The test stopped due to a problem related to the brake system blade when it was short by 14 hours and 400 km compared to the standard. The company proposed quality assurance measures to compensate for the shortfall. These include providing five transmissions free of charge for maintenance field equipment (M/F) to allow immediate replacement if the powerpack breaks down, operating a maintenance support center with specialized personnel on site, extending the warranty period by 1 to 2 years, and offering free warranty for defective parts throughout the entire period.

After careful consideration, DAPA approved the use of the domestic powerpack. This was done with an eye on exporting the K2 tank. Currently, the K2 tank uses a German transmission, but Germany is highly likely to refuse export licenses (E/L) ahead of exports to the Middle East. Even if approved, the price of the German powerpack is high, which inevitably raises the cost of the K2 tank. This means it will inevitably fall behind in price competitiveness. Additionally, there is still a quantity of K2 tanks to be deployed to the military, which could affect the sales of domestic defense companies. The military plans to invest about 1.94 trillion won in total project costs by 2028 to deploy approximately 150 additional units for the fourth mass production of the K2 tank.

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