The aftermath of the outbreak of armed conflict is an increase in the defense budget of one or more countries involved. As in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, many western countries and NATO have been forced to increase their defense budgets to procure new weapon systems.
And for weapons manufacturers, this is a golden moment to offer their products to the country in question. In this case, there is news that South Korea has won the top score in the defense equipment procurement contract.
Quoted from DefenseNews.com (25/7/2022), it was stated that the State of Ginseng managed to carve a record for the largest defense equipment export sales in history, namely South Korea and Poland have agreed on the procurement of large-scale defense equipment, in the form of 180 units of Main Battle Tank (MBT) K2 Black Panther, 48 FA-50 Fighting Eagle light fighter jets and 670 Self Tracked Propelled Howitzer K9 Thunder. Chun In-Bum, a retired South Korean lieutenant general and former head of special operations forces, said the deal totaled more than $14.5 billion.
Still from the same source, it is said that the background of the massive procurement of defense equipment is because Poland wants to replace the weapons that have been sent to Ukraine against Russia.
"This is the largest single sale of Korean weapons so far," Chun said. He added, “The K9 is the best self-propelled artillery system in the world that only German-made systems can compete with. While the FA-50 is a fighter version of the T-50 which has earned a reputation as a fighter jet trainer. And the K2 MBT in its latest version will be better than anything South Korea has had to date.” In fact, there is a desire in the future, Poland acquires up to 1,000 units of the K2 MBT.
"Among the European NATO countries, Poland will have the strongest ground forces," said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of Poland, Mariusz Błaszczak.
The decision made by South Korea is also related to operational and industrial needs. On the one hand, the military wants the procurement of defense equipment relatively quickly, while the industry wants development domestically.
"And choosing South Korea is a win-win solution for both groups (military and industrial)," said Błaszczak.
K2 Black Panther
Made by Hyundai Rotem, this MB is definitely not the cans. Having produced more than 100 units for the South Korean Army, the Black Panther is known to be the design platform used in the Turkish-made MBT, Altay. The K2 Black Panther carries a Hyundai WIA CN08 cannon with a caliber of 120/55 mm smoothbore gun, where the capacity of the turret can be loaded with 40 munitions.
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| K2 Black Panthe |
K2 Black Panther already uses autoloader technology, so the total crew is only three people – commander, gunner and driver. The Black Panther has a full weight of 61 tons, this South Korean pride tank has a length of 10.8 meters, a width of 3.6 meters and a height of 2.4 meters.
FA-50 Fighting Eagle
Although the design and design of the FA-50 is almost exactly the same as the T-50i, in terms of innards, the FA-50 is much more complete and lethal. By the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), the FA-50 from the beginning was lined up to meet the requirements of light fighter jets around the world. KAI also said that the radar system used by the FA-50 has detection capabilities with the KF-16, aka the South Korean F-16 Fighting Falcon.
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K9 Thunder
Made by Hanwha Defense, the K9 Thunder offers a self-propelled howitzer system with a 155mm caliber. Traced from its development history, the K9 adopted the M109 design, the US-designed self-tracked propelled howitzer currently used by the Armed TNI AD. The K9 Thunder has been a success in terms of exports, as the K9 platform has won procurement contracts for the Australian and Egyptian militaries.
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