The South Korean military has used tanks developed and produced in the United States from the time of the Korean War. In the 1970's the Korean Government was concerned with its aging American family of tanks made up of the M47 and M48 Patton series. A main battle tank concept was needed to counter the North Korean Soviet tanks T-54/55 threat. The South Korean President, Park Chung-hee, and his administration wanted to build the new tank domestically so the Korean Army and the people would take national pride with Koreans producing a Korean tank and Park new his men would fight with a feeling of superiority in a tank built by their own countrymen. Having said that, the Koreans did not have the design expertise to develop, tool and manufacture such a tank. The Korean development team looked at multiple designs. Initially the team looked into obtaining rights to licensing produce the American M60A1 Patton tank.
The original plan was to acquire all the tanks available and produce new Pattons in Korea. This ended in a no-agreement because the amount of Patton's available was insufficient for the Korean's needs. Contracts were secured to upgrade existing Korean Patton's and the design team looked at production rights for the German Leopard 1. After some consideration, the Korean team felt that with new Leopard 2 and M1 Abrams being developed, producing older tank versions could reduce their ability to counter new Soviet designs. Instead, the tank chosen by the South Koreans would be a variation of the American M1 Abrams design - developed by the General Dynamics Land Systems company. Looking forward to the manufacture of the tank in South Korea, Hyundai Precision engineers were sent to study at General Dynamics and supervise production of the variation called the XK1.
With its origins in the M1 Abrams, it is easy to see the external similarities between the South Korea Type 88 (ROTEM K1) Main Battle Tank and the American M1 Abrams. Hyundai Precision & Inc Company Limited (now ROTEM) handled production of the vehicle locally in South Korea (though some parts production was handled overseas). Though the system was originally designed to take on the vast amounts of North Korean T-54/T-55/T-62 main battle tanks of Soviet design, the Type 88 has since grown to compete with the latest generation tanks from around the globe.
The Type 88 features the M68 105mm rifled main gun, though an upgunned M256 120mm variant is also available (standard in the K1A1). Full NBC protection, day/night sighting and a computerized fire control system round out the major features of this main battle tank. Crew accommodations is conventional by western standards and include the driver, ammunition loader, tank commander and gunner. The driver has controls to adjust suspension on-the-fly while the commander's station features stabilized sighting equipment along with an all-digital computer system.
Power is derived from the 1 x MTU 871 Ka-501 diesel engine developing up to 1,200 horsepower at 2,600rpm. Road speed is equal to 65 kilometers per hour with a range of 457 kilometers. Its listed weight is 51,000 kilograms.
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ENGINEERING
Onboard systems provide solutions to accomplish a variety of battlefield engineering tasks.
MAIN BATTLE TANK
Primary armored ground combat unit of modern armies utilizing speed, protection, and / or firepower to spearhead armored assaults.
Frontline Asset
Frontline unit used to take direct part in forward operating actions against enemy positions / targets.
TANK-VS-TANK
Engage armored vehicles of similar form and function.
31.7 ft (9.67 meters) Length
11.8 ft (3.59 meters) Width
7.3 ft (2.24 meters) Height
112,436 lb (51,000 kg) Weight
56.2 tons (Heavy-class) Tonnage
1 x MTU 871 Ka-501 diesel developing 1,200 horsepower at 2,600rpm driving conventional track-and-wheel arrangement. Drive System
40 mph (65 kph) Road Speed
284 miles (457 km) Road Range
K1:
1 x 105mm KM68A1 main gun in turret.
1 x 7.62mm M60E2-1 co-axial machine gun in turret.
1 x 12.7mm K6 Anti-Aircraft (AA) machine gun on turret roof.
1 x 7.62mm M60D GPMG at loader's cupola on turret roof.
12 x Smoke dischargers on turret.
K1A1:
1 x 120mm KM256 main gun in turret.
1 x 7.62mm M60E2-1 co-axial machine gun in turret.
1 x 12.7mm K6 Anti-Aircraft (AA) machine gun on turret roof.
1 x 7.62mm M60D GPMG at loader's cupola on turret roof.
12 x Smoke dischargers on turret.
AMMUNITION
47 x 105mm projectiles / 32 x 120mm projectiles.
1,000 x 12.7mm ammunition.
8,800 x 7.62mm ammunition.
12 x Smoke grenades.
XK1 - Developmental Designation; based largely on the American Abrams MBT.
K1 - Original production model; 1,027 examples
K1 PIP - Upgraded K1 models
K1E1 - Upgraded K1 PIP models based on K1A2 upgrades
K1A1 - Upgraded K1 model; 120mm main gun; 484 examples; upgraded to K1A2 standard.
K1 AVLB - Bridgelayer
K1 ARV - Armored Recovery Vehicle
K1M - Proposed Malaysian Export Variant; not accepted.
K1A2 - Upgraded K1A1 model; appearing in 2013; improved communications, navigation, amphibious capabilities, Active Protection System (APS), and crew comforts.
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