Daewoo (Doosan) Korean Infantry Fighting Vehicle (KIFV)

     Notes:  The ROK Army first issued a request for a new IFV in 1981; the initial design work was done directly by the South Korean Agency for Defense Development, but then the final design work and actual production order was passed on to Daewoo Heavy Industries’ Land Systems division.  (Most people in the US have heard of Daewoo as a maker of inexpensive automobiles, but in South Korea, they make just about anything you can think of, from Walkman-type music players and civilian cars and trucks to assault rifles and most of South Korea’s domestically-produced military vehicles.)  The first member of the KIFV family, the K-200 APC, entered service in 1985; a command post version, the K-277, followed closely behind along with an armored ambulance version, and soon thereafter several other non-APC-type vehicles based on the same chassis went into production, including a pair of mortar carriers, three antiaircraft vehicles, and an ARV.  In addition, four IFV-type vehicles were produced in prototype form; these were extensively field-tested, but ultimately did not enter production.  These IFV designs were also briefly offered for sale on the international market, but no one showed any interest and the two designs were completely withdrawn from production and the Daewoo catalog.  (I actually got to see the KAFV 30 during Team Spirit 1988; it surprised me at first, because the KAFV 30 can be mistaken at first glance for a Bradley from some angles, including the one I first saw it from, and I knew there were no Bradleys in South Korea at the time.)  Other turret possibilities were presented to both the ROK Army and the international market by Daewoo, but these designs also did not enter production. The latest version is the K-216A1 NBC reconnaissance version – currently the only tracked NBC reconnaissance vehicle being employed in the world. The KIFV draws upon Daewoo’s experience with maintenance and refurbishing work done on ROK M-113s, as well as assistance from countries using the AIFV – the KIFV’s basic similarity to the AIFV is obvious.

     In addition to its use by the ROK Army, the KIFV is also used by the Malaysian Army.  Malaysia received their first batch of KIFVs in 1993, and almost all of that first batch were immediately put into action in Kosovo, used by the Malaysian contingent of KFOR (one of the few non-NATO countries to take part in KFOR).  The Malaysians received 42 KIFVs of various types in that first batch; they bought 22 more in a second batch in 1994, and 47 more in a third batch in 1995.  South Korea herself uses about 1890 KIFV variants, most of which had been brought up to A1 standard by 1996.

     In 2005, Daewoo was acquired by the Doosan Group, a large, multinational, South Korean-based conglomerate that includes among its many departments defense industries in several countries.  Doosan Infracore therefore became the prime contractor for KIFV maintenance, upgrades, and any possible future modifications.

The K-200 APC

     The base vehicle of the KIFV range is the K-200.  In the case of the K-200, “KIFV” is a misnomer, as the K-200 is not an IFV – it is an APC, armed only with a heavy machinegun on a pintle mount at the gunner’s cupola.  The gunner’s cupola is surrounded with heavy (AV2) gun shields, but the cupola is manually traversed and is open-topped.  The shields, however, are high and the front of the shield has a slit for the machinegun that is wide enough to allow the gunner to give a reasonable, if limited, field of view if he crouches completely below the level of the gun shields or lowers his seat below that level.  The gunner’s hatch, inside the gun shields, opens to the rear and locks open vertically; when locked open, the gunner effectively has an additional AV2 to his rear. To the right and rear of the gunner’s cupola is a hatchway for the commander, who has all-around vision blocks but no vehicular armament. The driver is seated directly in front of the commander, and has a conventional steering yoke with a brake and gas pedal.  The driver has three vision blocks to his front and one to the right; the center front vision block be removed and replaced by a night vision block. A bank of six smoke grenade launchers is found on the center front hull, just below above the trim vane when it is in its stowed position. Armor is decent (better than its AIFV counterparts), and better than the M-113s that the ROK Army was using or the AIFV from which the hull was derived.  The K-200’s armor is essentially the same as that of the AIFV, but updated and a bit more advanced in design. There is a shallow track skirt of sorts, but this is of thin metal and is there to enhance floatation instead of being used to protect the suspension.  The K-200 uses a Daewoo D-2848 280-horsepower turbocharged engine (derived from a MAN design); initially, this engine was designed to run only on diesel fuel, but later, the capability to use JP-8 jet fuel was added.  (This was done for purposes of interoperability; in the mid-1990s, the US Army began converting its vehicles and virtually all of its fuel-powered equipment to burn JP-8 in order to simplify logistics.) The engine is coupled in an integrated power pack to the Daewoo T-300 automatic transmission, an improved derivative of the Alvis TN-15 transmission.  The powerpack is separated from the crew and troop compartments by a thick firewall; both the engine/transmission compartment and the crew/troop compartment have an automatic fire detection and suppression system. The high horsepower-to-weight ratio gives the K-200 outstanding speed and agility. The K-200 is amphibious with little preparation, requiring that the large trim vane be extended to the front and bilge pumps turned on, and requiring 4 minutes to prepare.  Propulsion in the water is, like most amphibious tracked vehicles, by track motion. The K-200 has two firing ports in each side of the hull, one in the rear door (on the left side of the ramp), and another in the ramp to the right of the door; these firing ports can take the M-231, CAR-15, MP-5, M-16 series, M-4 series, K-2, K-1A1, M-249 SAW, or K-3 SAW.  The rear door is part of a powered ramp, and the troop compartment also has a large hatch on the rear deck, opening to the rear.  The troops are seated four on each side of the troop compartment, with a ninth soldier (normally the squad leader) being in a seat at the front of the compartment facing the rear.

     In 1994, South Korea began to upgrade their K-200s to the K-200A1 standard.  The primary difference involved in this upgrade is the replacement of the engine by the more powerful D-2848T 350-horsepower engine, which is, as the previous engine, a turbocharged engine able to burn diesel or JP-8 jet fuel.  As with the previous engine, the D-2848T is a design licensed from MAN for production by Daewoo.  Along with the engine, the transmission was replaced with the more efficient Alison X200-5K automatic transmission, which was produced by Daewoo (and later Doosan) under license.  Other modifications include the addition of a medium machinegun to the cupola armament, a slight increase in armor protection (including belly protection), a beefed up suspension that gives a smoother ride over rough terrain, and increased drive train and suspension tolerance to temperature extremes.  The powerpack is even more tightly integrated, with powerpack changes requiring reduced time, even in field conditions; in addition, the powerpack and suspension are improved in reliability. In 2000, Malaysia began to apply the A1 upgrades to their KIFV fleet; however, only 57 members of their total KIFV fleet were upgraded to the A1 standard.

     For service in Kosovo, some Malaysian K-200s had their M-2HB’s removed and replaced by Mk 19 automatic grenade launchers.  An estimated one-quarter of their total deployed force (about 10 vehicles) were so modified.  These vehicles had their Mk 19s replaced by M-2HBs again after their return from Kosovo.

The K-277 and K-277 Ambulance

     Both of these are based on a common chassis, which is a modified K-200 chassis with the roofline raised a little over a meter over most of the vehicle, except for the driver’s compartment, and engine compartment.  At the front of the raised section is a projection housing a 5kW generator to run the vehicle’s equipment when the engine is switched off.  All in all, this makes the K-277 look very close to the M-577 version of the M-113 series.  The sides and rear of the K-277 do not have firing ports, and the side armor is not made of the same spaced laminate as the K-200, being simple slab sides.  The K-277 retains the front-mounted smoke grenade launchers. As with the M-577, the K-277 carries four short/medium-range radios (usually SINCGARS radios with attached encryption modules to further increase COMSEC), one medium-range AM radio, and one long-range AM radio (also with encryption modules).  Unlike the M-577, the generator on the K-277 is not designed to be removed from the vehicle and ground-mounted.  The K-277 has mounts for four whip antennas and a davit for use with a long-range mast antenna.  A tent can be extended from the rear to increase the working area.  A ruggedized laptop computer is carried, and the medium-range AM radio and one of the short/medium-range radios are data-capable.  As with the M-577, the K-277 has internal racks for weapons at the rear on the roofline above the ramp; however, the K-277’s commander’s hatch does have a pintle-mounted weapon (but no gun shields).  Other equipment normally carried includes an optical chemical sniffer, a Geiger counter, a map board, various supplies for the plotting of troop positions, and various office-type supplies.  In 1994, South Korean K-277s were also upgraded to the A1 standard, but this did not involve an increase in armament, and these upgrades were done to Malaysian K-277s starting in 2000.

     The K-277 chassis is also used as a basis for an armored ambulance. It can carry four stretcher-borne patients or two stretcher-borne patients and three seated patients.  The crew is increased by one member, a medic; the commander and driver are also normally medics.  The ambulance version carries the equivalent of 20 personal medical kits and two doctor’s medical bags, two sets of oxygen-administration kits, a portable defibrillator, a small refrigerator for the storage of perishable medical supplies, and two complete sets of splints.  It was also upgraded to the A1 standard starting in 1994. The ambulance version of the K-277 is not armed, and no provision for the mounting of a pintle is made.  The ambulance version retains the K-277’s 5kW generator.

The K-216A1 NBC Reconnaissance Vehicle

     Based on the K-200 chassis, the K-216A1 entered service after the 1994 A1 upgrades, and a “plain” K-216 version does not exist.  Externally, the most obvious difference is the lack of gun shields around the gunner’s position.  However, the K-216A1 is internally far different than the K-200, carrying a smaller crew of technicians trained to operate the NBC detection and analysis equipment.  This includes small airlocks to take in external air samples, an optical chemical sniffer, a Geiger counter and dosimeter, and equipment to analyze the exact nature of chemical contamination.  The K-216A1’s radiological equipment can determine not only the radiation levels of a contaminated area, but also the exact nature of the radiation (alpha particles, beta particles, neutrons, and residual emission of gamma rays).  In addition to the small airlocks, samples can be scooped from the ground and manipulator arms can sample vegetation and dead animals.  The K-216A1 is also equipped with a mass spectrometer and weather observation equipment.

The Unused Variants

     The KAFV versions of the KIFV are also somewhat of a misnomer, as they are in fact IFVs.  They unfortunately never entered production except in prototype form; they also never had a chance to receive the A1 upgrades. The larger turrets take up more space that is normally used to carry troops, but those turrets also carry heavier weapons and give the KAFV better night vision capability. The KAFV 40/50 is armed with an automatic grenade launcher and heavy machinegun, which are stabilized in the vertical axis and equipped with a fire control computer.  The KAFV 30A is armed with a 30mm M-230 ChainGun and a coaxial machinegun; in addition, the gun is stabilized in two planes and equipped with a laser rangefinder.  The KAFV 30M is identical, except that the autocannon used is the Mauser Mk 30.  The KAFV 25 is also identical, but the autocannon used is a 25mm M-242 ChainGun.  Other details of the hull design are identical, except that the commander’s hatch is deleted and the commander is relocated to the turret.  The commander has auxiliary controls for the main armament in all KAFV versions and has access to the gunner’s sights.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The A1 upgrades did not take place in the Twilight 2000 timeline, and the K-261A1 never left the drawing board. The KAFV 40/50 was in limited numbers, though the KAFV 30M was not produced.  Though in the Twilight 2000 timeline South Korea originally started production of the KAFV 30A and intended to build them in favor of the KAFV 25, production quickly switched to the KAFV 25 to allow ammunition interchangeability with American M-2 and M-3 Bradleys to improve the logistical situation.

*Belly and deck armor for these vehicles is 3.

**Belly armor for these vehicles is 5; deck armor is 3.

***See above for crew and passenger capacity.

Doosan K-21

     Notes: The K-21 (though it was type-standardized in 2008, it is still referred to by some sources as the XK-21 or the KNIFV, or Korean Next Infantry Fighting Vehicle; early in development, a final type-designation of K-300 was also considered) was designed to replace the K-200A1 in South Korean service.  No plans have appeared as yet for export sales, and though the K-21 has been referred to by Doosan as a series, no variants of the K-21 other than the PIP have as yet been announced.  Low-rate initial production began in 2008 to allow for extended field trials, and first issue to ROK Army units began in 2009 in small numbers.  Full production and issue is set for late 2010.  The K-21 is designed to use the most advanced vehicle construction and design methods, and is innovative in many ways, particularly in the design of its hull.  The vehicle’s armor suite was designed specifically with the Russian 2A42 autocannon in mind (or other weapons in its class) -- this is a weapon that is coming into increasing use in North Korea, and as 30mm-class weapons are also common throughout the world, this is something that will be important should the K-21 receive export sales. The main armament is also capable of punching through the armor of most APCs and IFVs, as well as some tanks from the rear or even the side in some cases. The K-21’s design and parts are 85% Doosan design, and much of the rest is license-produced in South Korea.  The ROK Army plans to field 466 K-21s, and Doosan expects that the K-21 will attract considerable interest from other countries.

The K-21

     The heavy armor resulting from the design philosophy presented Doosan with a problem – it would normally require the K-21 to be a heavy vehicle in general.  With normal IFV construction, this meant that the chassis and hull would also necessarily be heavy, and as a result, the engine would have to be powerful and heavy. The suspension would have to be beefy to carry all this weight.  Doosan got around this problem with an innovative solution – they built the chassis and much of the basic, inner hull of the K-21 out of advanced, high-strength, fiberglass composites.  This greatly reduces the weight of the K-21, allowing the vehicle to carry the heavy armor and heavy weapons it is armed with while making still making the K-21 a relatively light vehicle – though armor is in the class of the German Marder 1A3, and better than the US M-2A3, the K-21’s combat weight is only 25 tons.  Nonetheless, Doosan chose to put an engine in the K-21 with power on par with many last-generation main battle tanks, and this makes the K-21 a very quick and agile vehicle despite its size.  The high power-to-weight ratio also means that the K-21 is able to carry a high payload (though, as with most IFVs these days, interior room is still at a premium, the size of the infantry squad inside is larger than most IFV).  The exterior of the K-21 has numerous tie-down points to carry equipment, to take advantage of this.

    Turret armament consists of a 40mm dual-feed autocannon that, while of Doosan build, is essentially a license-produced version of the Swedish L/70 gun. This firepower is supplemented by a coaxial machinegun and a twin ATGM launcher.  The ATGM launcher is contained in a box mounted on the right side of the turret and deploys similar to TOW launcher on a Bradley – but the ATGMs are Doosan versions of the Israeli Spike ATGM.  The turret armament is coupled to an advanced fire control suite on par with that found on many modern main battle tanks, and the main armament (though not the ATGM launcher) is fully stabilized in both axis.  The ATGM system can be used against ground targets and against slow, low-flying aircraft. The launchers are reloaded via the hatch above the troop compartment on the rear deck. Night vision is comprehensive, including long-range thermal imaging and a hunter/killer capability for the commander and gunner.  The sights are essentially interchangeable; the commander and gunner can make full use of each other sighting and night vision systems, giving both of them a backup in case of damage to wither sets of sights and night vision equipment. The sights are designed not only for the engagement of ground targets, but also low-flying helicopters.  The fire control suite also includes an advanced ballistic computer and laser rangefinder, and is designed by the Korean division of Britain’s Thales.  The turret has a cluster of four smoke grenade launchers on the forward part of each side of the turret.

     Another refinement present in the K-21 is a Battlefield Management System.  As with most such systems, the K-21’s BMS consists of a computer, data-capable radio, and LCD displays that give the commander a comprehensive view of the battlefield situation, including the location of friendly and known enemy positions, logistics points, and other vital dispositions of the battlefield situation.  The commander can also access information about the exact condition of his vehicle, from fuel available to ammunition state to battle damage sustained. The BMS is essentially constantly sending and receiving reports from and to other friendly units equipped with the same system, and the commander can also use the system to update information for other friendly units and to navigate around the battlefield.  To this end, the K-21 is equipped with a GPS system and also has an IFF transmitter/receiver.  The system also has an external CCD camera tied to it, and is able to transmit video to other BMS-equipped units.

     The driver is located on the right front of the vehicle.  He has five vision blocks to his front and right side; the center front block can be removed and replaced with a night vision block.  He has a conventional steering yoke with a brake and gas pedal.  The K-21’s engine is a Doosan D-2840LXE 740-horsepower turbocharged diesel engine which is also able to burn JP-8 jet fuel; this is coupled to a fully-automatic and computer-assisted transmission.  The suspension is a variant of the semi-active ISU (In-arm Suspension Unit) suspension found on the K-2 main battle tank, though the K-21’s suspension is not variable in height like that of the K-2.  The K-21 is amphibious, but it takes a novel sort of preparation – a trim vane is extended and bilge pumps turned on, like most such vehicles, but a rubber pontoon system is also deployed.  These pontoons, one on each side, are located under the track skirts and inflated using air compressors.  When inflated, each pontoon is over two feet wide, and the K-21 is then propelled in the water by its tracks.  After swimming, the pontoons have the air sucked out of them by the same air compressors, operating in reverse, and then stow automatically under the track skirts again.  Therefore, despite the amount of preparation, the K-21 requires only 7 minutes to prepare for swimming operations.

     The rear troop compartment is accessed from the rear through a large powered ramp which also has a door in it.  There is also a large hatch on the rear deck which opens to the rear. The K-21 does not use firing ports, though the troops do have vision blocks on the roof of the troop compartment.  The crew and troops have an NBC overpressure system with a collective NBC backup, and are also protected by automatic fire detection and suppression systems in the crew compartments, troop compartment, and engine compartment.  The fuel tanks are armored and self-sealing. The armor of the K-21 is still a closely-guarded secret, but the fiberglass composite chassis and hull are believed to be encased in high-strength aluminum alloy, and the armor itself is believed to be a layered system of aluminum alloy plates, glass fiber layers, and ceramics.  The armor is layered not only over most of the external arcs of the K-21, but also on the hull floor and the deck of the turret and hull. The fiberglass composite of the hull and chassis actually works as a plus, as it is not only less likely to burn upon a hit, it also functions as an anti-spalling liner. The armor is good at stopping incoming rounds from most angles, it is especially effective against explosions from artillery shells – a 152mm round can explode within 10 meters of the K-21 and not only the fragments will be stopped, but the concussion will not harm the crew or troops inside (though it will ring their bells quite a bit). The armor is modular, and can be repaired or panels can be replaced in the field; it also means that possible future armor upgrades can be easily performed. Lugs for ERA are found on the glacis, hull sides, turret sides, and turret front; the K-2’s NERA technology will also be available to the K-21. The K-21 also has a soft-kill-type active defense system, which has detectors for targeting lasers and jammers for ATGM guidance systems (on a roll of 12+ on a d20, the difficulty to the ATGM gunner’s difficulty is increased by one level; outstanding success indicates that the incoming missile pre-detonates before it can hit the K-21).  A rotating IRCM emitter atop the turret on a low post emit pulsed IR beams to decoy IR-guided munitions; their effectiveness is the same as listed for the electro-optical jammer above, and both have a 360-degree range of protection, as well as 180-degrees upwards. The detectors also can automatically fire the smoke grenade launchers, which may use conventional smoke, WP smoke, or IR-obscuring smoke (the most common type of grenade expected to be used in the K-21’s launchers).

The K-21 PIP

     Doosan is not resting on its laurels with the K-21 – they are already working on an upgrade package, currently called the K-21 PIP (Product-Improvement Program), which might be fielded as early as 2012. Though small improvements will be carried out in several areas of the K-21, the primary upgrades involve the replacement of the engine with an improved version of the D-2840LXE which has an output of 840 horsepower, an improved ballistic computer, and the addition of a hard-kill APS system. This system, the AWiSS, is a version of the same as used on the K-2 PIP. The system developed by the South Koreans launches special rounds in the path of the missile that quickly break up into a cloud of tungsten pellets, destroying the missile before it can hit the tank.  16 of these rounds are available, and they are 75% likely to destroy the incoming missile about 10 meters from the K-21.  This system protects the K-21 against attacks from any angle.  Unlike currently-employed hard-kill active defenses, the South Korean system has a small chance of protecting the K-21 against large-caliber rounds (small rounds like autocannon rounds, Skeet-type EFPs, or cluster bomb submunitions are too small to be reliably detected).  The chance that the system will be able to counter such a round is only 5%.  The hard-kill system uses millimeter radar and an upgrade to the K-21’s BMS computer; the hard-kill rounds are employed in a ring around the turret, with the radar on a short pole on the roof of the turret.  The AWiSS system is incorporated into a layered defense with the soft-kill system mentioned for the standard K-21 above.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The K-21 is not available in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

*Hull deck armor for the K-21 is 4Sp; hull floor armor is 6Sp.