South Korea supplies weapons to India? It's rarely heard, because the two countries are known to have a 'civilization' of the defense equipment industry that is on par.
However, did you know that in 2019, Seoul almost supplied heavy weaponry to New Delhi, and even the Ginseng Country alerted products were reportedly able to 'beat' similar products from Russia, something that is out of the ordinary, considering that Russia has long been known as a traditional supplier of weapons to India.
The product from South Korea is the K30 Biho "Flying Tiger", which is included in the Self Propelled Anti Aircraft Gun (SPAAG) category. Quoted from several international media, it was stated that the K30 Biho was chosen by India after defeating two competitors from Russia, namely the Tunguska-M1 and Pantsir S-1 missile systems in trials for the defense equipment defense system procurement program.
In the aftermath of the successful trial, Hanwha Defense as the manufacturer of the K30 Biho was awarded a contract worth US$2.6 billion in May 2019 to supply 104 units of the K30 Biho to the Indian Armed Forces. However, in September 2020, the contract was cancelled, because there was a desire from India to be able to produce similar defense equipment domestically.
Although in the end it was not marketed to India, the name of the K30 Biho is still well-known, especially when the testers from India expressed satisfaction with the performance of the K30 Biho, especially in use in hot and desert fields. So what is interesting about this Flying Tiger figure?
As the SPAAG is housed in an armored chain link platform, the K30 Biho can be called similar to the 2K22 Tunguska (Russia) and the Flakpanzer Gepard (Germany). The main weapons of the K30 Biho are the two-barreled KKCB 30 mm caliber gun produced by SNT Dynamics and the short-range Shingung MANPADS missile.
The latter is the original variant of the MANPADS Chiron missile made by LIG Nex1. For the record, Chiron missiles are also operated by the Indonesian Air Force Paskhas Corps, namely as a complement to the Skyshield defense system from Rheinmetall.
Designed by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) in the period 1983 – 1991, the K30 Biho was developed to meet the operational requirements of the South Korean Armed Forces on a mobile short-range air defense system ideal for operational and terrain conditions on the Korean peninsula.
The main point of the K30 Biho is to combine an electro-optically guided 30 mm gun system with a surveillance radar system on the K200 chainwheel APC chassis. The presence of the K30 Biho can be called a complement to the SPAAG K263A1 Chungung which relies on the 20 mm Vulcan gatiling gun cannon.
As the controlling element for the 30 mm cannon duo, the TPS-830K (X band pulse Doppler radar) is the surveillance and fire-control radar equipped with an integral L-band (1 -S 2 GHz) Identification Friend or Foe (IFF).
Complementing the detection module on the dome, there is an electro-optical targeting system (EOTS), panoramic periscope, forward looking infrared system (FLIR), laser rangefinder (LRF), thermal sight, TV camera and digital fire-control system. The combined targeting system of EOTS, FLIR and LRF has a targeting range of more than 10 km. The TPS-830K radar can detect and track 2 m2 (22 sq ft)-RCS targets from a distance of 17 km.
The 30 mm caliber KKCB cannon has a firing speed of 600 projectiles per minute and an effective firing range of 3,000 meters. Each canon barrel is equipped with a capacity of 300 rounds of ammunition. In 2013, the K30 Biho turret was equipped with the integrated MANPADS Shingung (Chiron) guided missile, which has a range of up to 7 km.
Two pods each containing two missiles are mounted, one on each side of the turret. Integration of the design with the missile was completed in 2014, and by October 2015 the system was in full-rate production.
K30 Biho with K200 ranpur platform adopts the MAN-Doosan D2840L 520 hp diesel engine. K30 Biho with a weight of 26.5 tons can accelerate with a maximum speed of 65 km per hour and a cruising range of up to 500 km.
In 2021, the wheeled variant of the K30 Biho has been launched, the system relies on the K808 8×8 armored personnel carrier platform.
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