South Korea launches Amphibious Tank XK2

eckherl

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
I'm pretty sure the XK2 can dive deeper then the Leo 2
Don`t count on it, kinda the same set up isn`t it. Can you tell us why ROK forces would want a vehicle to have this capability, how does it fit into their battle doctrine.
 

Waylander

Defense Professional
Verified Defense Pro
You are laaaaate... :D ;)

You are the expert for Korea, so I have a question. ;)
I could imagine that, due to the topographical environment on the Korean peninsula, the height of the bank slopes is a much more limiting factor than the actual depth of the rivers.
Good crossing points may be rare?
 

eckherl

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
You are laaaaate... :D ;)

You are the expert for Korea, so I have a question. ;)
I could imagine that, due to the topographical environment on the Korean peninsula, the height of the bank slopes is a much more limiting factor than the actual depth of the rivers.
Good crossing points may be rare?
They have already pretty much set up pre determined locations in the upper north area of the country, these rivers for the most part are not deep at all and we could ford them with our M1s and M60s with no special prep. They even have placed concrete bridges next to each other set up at different heights to be used in the wet season (monsoon). If North Korea ever decides to make that fatal mistake of a South Korean invasion it will come during winter months when the ground is frozen, South Korean landscape is littered with rice paddies and soft soil.

Question for you: How long does it take a Leo 2 series to prep for deep water fording, where are the fording kits located when they are not in use.
 

eckherl

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
On the trucks of the battalion's logistics component (seriously).
How long does it take them to get it to the tanks provided that they do not need to evade air hostiles and harrassing artillery.
 

Waylander

Defense Professional
Verified Defense Pro
Jup the parts for deep forging (up to 4m) are located at 1st company.

The small ones for up to 2.40m are located directly at the engine deck of the tank.

Just small preparations are needed for the 2.40m. Really just minutes.
One needs to close the holes for the auxiliary sight and coax with rubber plugs (right word?) and pump up the diving hydraulic which closes all holes (air intakes, turret ring, etc.).

Don't ask me for an exact time but adding the snorkel (Be it the small or big one) also just needs short time.
The difficult question is if the guys from 1st company know on which truck the stuff is. :D

I could imagine rice paddies with a small layer of ice and snow on it are a tankers nightmare. You don't see them befire you break through the ice.

Big frozen ditches which look like normal ground during snow season are ugly enough fro me.
 

eckherl

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
Jup the parts for deep forging (up to 4m) are located at 1st company.

The small ones for up to 2.40m are located directly at the engine deck of the tank.

Just small preparations are needed for the 2.40m. Really just minutes.
One needs to close the holes for the auxiliary sight and coax with rubber plugs (right word?) and pump up the diving hydraulic which closes all holes (air intakes, turret ring, etc.).

Don't ask me for an exact time but adding the snorkel (Be it the small or big one) also just needs short time.
The difficult question is if the guys from 1st company know on which truck the stuff is. :D

I could imagine rice paddies with a small layer of ice and snow on it are a tankers nightmare. You don't see them befire you break through the ice.

Big frozen ditches which look like normal ground during snow season are ugly enough fro me.
Then it is most likely more time consuming in Europe to actually prep a crossing point versus getting the vehicles prepped.

If you ever have been thru the winter season in ROK you would freak out on how cold it gets, winter winds blowing from the North are something else. I have litterly snapped roadwheel arms off due to the cold and entry into a rice paddy dike system, thats how hard the ground gets. January thru March are the coldest months.
 

Vindex

New Member
Indirect fire

From what I've read they deploy it with the KSTAN an artillery round similar to the SMArt155. Personally I think it is a sensible addition to any tank with an L55 barrel which operates in such an battlefield. What sounds strange to me is that it seems that its range is limited to 8km - wouldn't it be able to have a far longer reach? Of course an MBT won't usually fight like an SPH, but it could be a fine addion to make the MBT even more versatile in difficult terrain. It matches of course both the Panther with his suspension and the terrain in which it operates very well...
 

eckherl

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
From what I've read they deploy it with the KSTAN an artillery round similar to the SMArt155. Personally I think it is a sensible addition to any tank with an L55 barrel which operates in such an battlefield. What sounds strange to me is that it seems that its range is limited to 8km - wouldn't it be able to have a far longer reach? Of course an MBT won't usually fight like an SPH, but it could be a fine addion to make the MBT even more versatile in difficult terrain. It matches of course both the Panther with his suspension and the terrain in which it operates very well...
Do we really know what the range is, even 8 km is not too shabby for a precision guided tank round, one should look at the capabilities of the tank FCS.;)
 

kato

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Verified Defense Pro
Then it is most likely more time consuming in Europe to actually prep a crossing point versus getting the vehicles prepped.
It's not really that much of an issue in Europe (Germany in particular) i think.
There's plenty of MLC60/MLC70-rated bridges over even very small rivers - MLC100 minimum throughout on the strategic routes. And a lot of fording places are actually prepared already, just like there are a few dozen prepared ramp points for pontoon bridges across the Rhine and other large rivers. All part of a big territorial defense program in the Cold War, just like e.g. the prepared demolition points on strategic bridges, ramps, streets etc.
 

Vindex

New Member
Do we really know what the range is, even 8 km is not too shabby for a precision guided tank round, one should look at the capabilities of the tank FCS
Well given that all the expensive hardware of the SMArt155mm is able to handle the brute acceleration of a 155m round which is able to propel it over 30km it should be able to get - terrain permitting a good deal more range. Of course, the FCS is a limiting factor but it should not be hard to upgrade it do be able to handle a longer range.

IMHO the Panther would be perfectly suited to lurk in a defilade positon (thus being able to increase range greatly) and act as a makeshift SPH. Given the terrain it would be a tankers secret dream to be able to ambush another tanker like that. Hull-down on steroids...
 

eckherl

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
It's not really that much of an issue in Europe (Germany in particular) i think.
There's plenty of MLC60/MLC70-rated bridges over even very small rivers - MLC100 minimum throughout on the strategic routes. And a lot of fording places are actually prepared already, just like there are a few dozen prepared ramp points for pontoon bridges across the Rhine and other large rivers. All part of a big territorial defense program in the Cold War, just like e.g. the prepared demolition points on strategic bridges, ramps, streets etc.
Do they still keep these area`s maintained (fording points), I remember that my area of operations in Germany all the bridges could handle our tanks.
 

eckherl

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
Well given that all the expensive hardware of the SMArt155mm is able to handle the brute acceleration of a 155m round which is able to propel it over 30km it should be able to get - terrain permitting a good deal more range. Of course, the FCS is a limiting factor but it should not be hard to upgrade it do be able to handle a longer range.

IMHO the Panther would be perfectly suited to lurk in a defilade positon (thus being able to increase range greatly) and act as a makeshift SPH. Given the terrain it would be a tankers secret dream to be able to ambush another tanker like that. Hull-down on steroids...
Anything beyond that range belongs to the canon cockers, 8 km is a pretty good area of control for your unit, you do not want to over extend your boundries due to command and control concerns. As we grow technology wise I am quite confident that we will be able to get additional precision guided range out of these projectiles, we still need to fine tune what we have.
 

Waylander

Defense Professional
Verified Defense Pro
IIRC most of the prepared defense structure (bridges, fording points, reserve runways on highways, etc.) is no longer maintained.

But the fording points should remain for a long time. In the end they are just concrete ramps.
The same goes for the prepared explosive holes in the bridges. They remain even if the explosives are no longer stored near by.
 

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
IIRC most of the prepared defense structure (bridges, fording points, reserve runways on highways, etc.) is no longer maintained.
Newly built bridges still tend to be outlined for MLC100 at least on the major routes, and MLC60/70 in other places, although nowadays also for commercial reasons of course. Still serves a good purpose for heavy-payload commercial moving, around here at least.
The highway-runways, afaik, are slowly being removed in reconstruction. About a dozen or so still exist, in particular the larger ones (9,000+ ft) in remote places, but without much maintenance - in particular now that the Territorial Army is gone since 2003 or so.

The same goes for the prepared explosive holes in the bridges. They remain even if the explosives are no longer stored near by.
The demolition systems (not just in bridges) are usually simply not built in again with the next modernization/rebuilding (or rather, not considered anymore in new construction plans). Hence, some, in particular in bridges, might remain in place for another 50-60 years at least.
Although i do have my suspicions about certain structures they're currently building underground while renovating some streets around LANDCENT :rolleyes:

Some of the fording points, in particular along the Rhine, are maintained for training afaik - not just for fording, but also for amphibious vehicle training.
 

Waylander

Defense Professional
Verified Defense Pro
Sure the ones for training remain intact and I would bet that also a handfull of the bridge demoliton points are regularly used by the combat engineers for training.
 

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
To bring this thread a bit back on track, was there similar preparation in South Korea?

I mean, i've seen those pictures of tank traps, demolition structures and such in North Korea, but comparable South Korean stuff seems to be under a bit tighter OPSEC definition even.
 

eckherl

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
To bring this thread a bit back on track, was there similar preparation in South Korea?

I mean, i've seen those pictures of tank traps, demolition structures and such in North Korea, but comparable South Korean stuff seems to be under a bit tighter OPSEC definition even.
Yes - over there you could actually see the sachel charge fuses and wires hanging out of the bridges, tank traps and dragon teeth are strategically placed to channel enemy forces into choke points. I wish that I could post some pictures that I have but I do not want to run into the risk of showing something that may be deemed sensitive to the security of South Korea.
 

DavidDCM

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
Man, that thing is tiny! Who designed it? Compared to the Leopard 2's current engine it is really small, looks even smaller than the EuroPowerPack. Great work from whoever made it, I'd say.
 
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