South Korea isn’t the only one taking advantage of the capabilities of the K2 Black Panther. The country’s government has also made deals with other nations to provide them with the tanks.

Due to the presence of its neighbors to the north, South Korea must constantly be prepared for the possibility of warfare. Kim Jung-un, the leader of North Korea, regularly feels the need to show that provocative actions could occur at any time, and South Korea has responded by creating a fierce military that uses updated vehicles and weapons. Among those is the K2 Black Panther main battle tank (MBT).


K9 howitzers operate in groups with the K10 automatic ammunition resupply vehicle variant. The entire K9 fleet operated by the ROK Armed Forces is now undergoing upgrades to K9A1, and a further upgrade variant K9A2 is being tested for production. As of 2022, the K9 series has had a 52% share of the global self-propelled howitzer market, including wheeled vehicles, since the year 2000.

The K9 Thunder is a South Korean 155 mm self-propelled howitzer that’s been in service since 1999. Capable of firing the CN98 155 mm .52-caliber artillery round, it has a maximum firing range of 40 kilometers for the original design and 54 kilometers for the updated K9A1 variant. A newer model, the K9A2, is currently behind evaluated.