Ukraine is fighting a fierce war of attrition with Russia on the eastern front. The Eastern Front has many vast plains, and Russian T-72, T-80, and T-90 tanks, with excellent maneuverability, overwhelm the power of the Ukrainian army. There are comments that the situation will change as Germany and the United States decide to support Ukraine with their main battle tanks, the Leopard 2 and the M1 Abrams, respectively.
As the strategic value of tanks is highlighted in the wake of this war, the introduction of tanks in European countries is accelerating. In addition, export contracts for K2 Korea tanks are also signed one after another. Hyundai Doosan Infracore, which supplies K2 tank engines, recently signed a contract worth nearly 500 billion won in three months.
Hyundai Doosan Infracore announced on the 2nd that it had signed an agreement to supply engines for 1,500 horsepower tanks with BMC, a Turkish defense company. The total contract size is 313.1 billion won. The engine is supplied in two instalments. It is planned to achieve the first volume worth 110.2 billion won between 2023 and 2025, and the second volume worth 202.9 billion between 2028 and 2030. This is the first time that the company exports only tank machines.
The engine supplied by this company is installed on the Turkiye Altay tank. The Altay Tank is a next-generation main battle tank developed by transferring Hyundai Rotem’s K2 tank design technology.
In December last year, Hyundai Doosan Infracore also signed a contract with Hyundai Rotem to supply tank engines worth 180 billion won to be installed on K2 tanks for export to Poland. Through two contracts in three months, a total of 493.1 billion won was raised in expected sales.
Sales of the company’s K2 tanks are expected to increase further. It is his observation that European countries will continue to supply tanks to Ukraine with electronic support from the United States and Germany. Export contracts are expected to continue as K2 and others fill this power vacuum. The supply contract with Hyundai Doosan Infracore, which supplies K2 tank engines, is expected to increase gradually.
Correspondent Kim Ik-hwan lovepen@hankyung.com
