K1 88 main battle tank

Posted by: Andrei Dcs

K1 88 tank is a South Korean main battle tank (MBT) based on the American M1 Abrams design.

Manufactured by the South Korean company Hyundai Rotem, K1 MBT is smaller and lighter than the M1 Abrams.

Hyundai Rotem was assisted in the design phase by American companies Chrysler Defense and General Dynamics.

The unit cost of the K1 tank depends on the variant.

Thus, the standard K1 version has a price per unit of 2.5 billion South Korean wons (US$2.04 million in 2020).

The K1A1 variant has a cost per unit of 4.4 billion South Korean wons, while the price per unit of the latest and most advanced variant, the K1A2 is 6.0 billion South Korean wons.

Hyundai Rotem produces the K1-88 tanks starting with 1985.

The K1 standard version was manufactured from 1985 until 1998. It was followed by the K1A1 variant which was produced between 1999 and 2010.

Only two variants are still currently under production, the K1A2 starting with 2012 and the K1E1 starting with 2013.

To this day, a total of 1,511 K1 main battle tanks have been produced, including 1,027 K1/K1E1 variants and 484 K1A1/K1A2 models.

The K1 tank was introduced in service with the South Korean army starting with 1987.

K1A1 entered service in 2001, followed by K1A2 in 2013, and K1E1 in 2014.

All variants of the K1 tank are currently still in service with the Republic of Korea Army.

Depending on the variant, the mass of the K1 tanks varies from 51.1 to 54.5 metric tons.

The K1 standard weights 51.1 metric tons (56.3 short tons), the K1A1 weights 53.2 tonnes, while the K1A2 has a mass of 54.5 tonnes, is the heaviest of all the variants.

The K1 standard has a length of 9.67 m, while the K1A1 is slightly longer, with a length of 9.71 m.

Both versions have a width of 3.60 m and a height of 2.25 m.

The K1 crew consists of four persons.

The armour of the K1 standard is of Special Armour Plate (SAP) type, while the armor of the following versions is of Korean SAP (KSAP) type.

The initial K1 versions (the standard ones) had as a main gun an 105 mm KM68A1 cannon with 47 rounds.

Starting with the K1A1, the K1 tanks use a more powerful 120 mm KM256 gun with 32 rounds.

As secondary armament, the K1 main battle tanks are equipped with a 12.7 mm K6 heavy machine gun on the right side, a 7.62 mm M60D machine gun on the left side and with an additional 7.62 mm M60E2-1 coaxial machine gun.

K1-88 tanks are powered by a 1200 hp (890 kW) MTU 871 Ka-501 8-cyl. water-cooled diesel engine rated at 2600 rpm.

The MTU 871 Ka-501 diesel engine is coupled to a ZF LSG 3000 transmission with six (6) gears (four forward and two reverse).

The K1 standard has a power-to-weight ratio of 23.5 hp/ton, while the K1A1 has a power-to-weight ratio of 22.6 hp/ton.

K1 uses hydropneumatic suspension in the front and the rear sides of the tank and a torsion bar suspension in the middle of the chassis.

Hyundai Rotem K1-88 MBT has an operational range of 500 km and can reach a maximum speed of 65 km/h (40 mph) on roads and 40 km/h (25 mph) off-road.