K2 Black Panther
Despite the fact that the South Korean Abrams (K1 of Korean production) have a fairly modern level, in 1995 the development of a new XK2 combat vehicle began with a focus on the use of domestic developments and technologies. Probably in the development of a new machine, not only a significant increase in the combat characteristics of the tank and a new technical level, but also the possibility of export without any problems related to licensing of foreign technologies (in K1 used American developments, it was largely repeated " Abrams "). This assumption is confirmed by Turkey's interest in a new South Korean tank.

The design of XK2 was completed in 2006, 11 years after the start of development. Two variants were considered: the main combat tank with the delivered weapons - with a 140-mm cannon in an uninhabited turret and a classic-build tank with a 120-mm cannon in the inhabited tower. Since the developer of the gun, the firm Rheinmetall, works on the 140-mm gun were suspended, the Koreans chose the second option.

The first of the three prototypes XK2 was demonstrated on March 2, 2007 in Changwon (southeast of Seoul).

The South Korean Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and Rotem (a division of Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group) spent 200 billion won (about $ 230 million) on XK2 development. Currently, K2 is the most expensive tank, the cost of one car is about 8.5-8.8 million US dollars and exceeds the price of the latest versions of M1 "Abrams" by about half.

K2 "Black Panther" has a classic layout. Combat weight 55 tons. Crew of three people: the driver-mechanic on the left in front of the hull, the commander on the right and the gunner on the left in the tower. Unlike the K1, which has a charging device, a loader is used to load the K2 gun.