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| Poland also Acquisition 850 K2 Black Panther Tanks from South Korea |
International Military - South Korea and Poland are reportedly close to finalizing a $14.5 billion arms deal. The deal involves the sale of 48 F-50 light fighter jets and will include the transfer of about 850 tanks and artillery pieces. It will also include approximately 670 K9 Thunder self-propelled guns and 180 modern variants of the K2 Black Panther tank.
Read Also: The Impact of the Russia-Ukraine War, Poland Orders of More than 200 Weapons From South Korea
The K2 is the only NATO-compatible tank in production worldwide to use an autoloader. Quoted from Military Watch Magazine, Poland plans to buy around 1000 K2 Black Panther tanks.
Initially, there were only 800 units that wanted to be acquired. However, this was higher than expected before the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of the Eastern European country, Mariusz Blaszczak, declared the acquisition on 22 July.
K2 Black Panther is no doubt. It is widely regarded as the most capable tank in the world rivaled only by the Russian T-14 Armata.
The T-14 Armata is the latest generation main battle tank (MBT) developed by the Russian company Uralvagonzavod. The T 14 Armata MBT is considered a stepping stone in technology and design of a Russian military armored vehicle.
The interesting thing is that the T 14 looks completely different from previous Soviet/Russian tanks, even on modern products. When viewed as a whole, from front to back, this tank is more boxy, similar to modern western tank designs.
Quoted from Army Technology, this tank measures 10.8 m long, 3.5 m wide, and 3.3 m high and has a combat weight of 48 tons. In addition, the T 14 also has a number of significant performance advantages. These include unmanned turrets, greater penetration of its anti-armor rounds, and superior armor.
In addition, the K2 has a firing range about twice that of modern Western tanks. Even so, this was still only two-thirds of the range of the T 14's main gun alone.
Quoted from Military Today, this tank uses undisclosed type modular composite armor and Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA) blocks. The front armor is claimed to be resistant to direct attacks from 120 mm tank shells fired from L55 guns.
The Black Panther tank is also equipped with an active protection system and countermeasures system. The tank is also equipped with an NBC protection system. The overall protection of the K2 is similar to that of the M1A2 Abrams MBT given that the K2 is significantly lighter. It is said that the K2 is superior to the M1A2 Abrams.