Blood transfusion of young blood from’Redback’ to K21 armored car… Coming to Korea at the end of the year [영상]

Among the fighters that were active in World War II, many people say that the American P-51 Mustang is the best. However, when the P-51A type was first put into practice in January 1942, the Mustang was less than expected. The American-made Ellison engine was the problem. When I climbed only 4000m in altitude, the power ran. Eventually, it was used as a ground attack aircraft, not a fighter.

However, Mustang was born again in November of that year. With the release of the P-51B and P-51C, which replaced the engines with British Merlin, the Mustang became swift and bitter like an eagle. And it was immediately recognized as a professional hunter of the Nazi German Air Force. The Mustang was brave as the first fighter of the Korean Air Force during the Korean War.
There are quite a few weapons, like the Mustang, that were ordinary at first, but were transformed into luxury goods through improvements. The K21, the ROK Army’s flagship infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), also had an opportunity to walk the path of the Mustang. The second mass production business is starting soon.

According to multiple government sources, it was decided to require more than 100 K21s in the joint camp last year. Requirements verification work is currently in progress, and if the relevant budget is met, the Army will be able to receive a new K21 from 2024. A government source asking for anonymity said, “We are deploying more K21s in the 7th Army Mobile Corps.” “North Korean tanks are no longer our opponents. In the emergency stabilization operation, we decided that the K21 was more useful than the K2 tank.”

Completed in 2007, the K21 can carry three crew members and nine fully armed infantry. The maximum speed is 70 km/h, and it can float in the water without external assistance and proceed at 6 km/h. It plans to mount a 40mm machine gun and a 7.62mm machine gun, and in the future, it will be equipped with a stringent anti-tank missile. It is a good performance.

However, after the K21 came out, the war changed a lot. So, public opinion is rising inside and outside the military to transfuse redback’s young blood into the second mass production K21. A government source who is familiar with the relevant circumstances pointed out that “when selecting a specific model, you can also consider choosing a red bag rather than an additional K21 order.”

The Red Bag is a challenge that Hanwha Defense launched for the Australian Army’s LAND 400 Phase 3 project. The objective of the LAND 400 Phase 3 project is to buy 450 Australian Army Tracked Infantry Combat Vehicles (IFVs) for 18 to 27 billion Australian dollars (approximately 16 to 24 trillion won). The counterpart is Lynx KF41 of German defense company Line Metal Defense.

Currently, the performance, protection, and fire power of the Red Bag and KF41 are being evaluated in Australia. After completing the evaluation in October, it is planning to select preferred negotiators in the first half of next year.

The prototype of the redback, which means redback living in Australia, is K21. The size of the K21 was increased in consideration of the Australian body shape, and the power pack (engine + transmission) of the K9 self-propelled gun was brought. A military official said, “We were able to make a red bag based on the K21 development know-how,” and “the two armored vehicles have the same DNA.”

They are siblings of the same DNA, but the difference between K21 and Redback is also big. Still, there are many new technologies of red bag that can be introduced into the K21 right away. In addition to this, K21 is a gold sangcheomhwa (錦上添花) in Hwaryongjeomjeong (畵龍點睛).

First of all, Iron Fist, an active defense system. In the past, tanks and armored vehicles had to be avoided when encountering enemy anti-tank firearms such as missiles. Then, when it detects a missile, it automatically fires a smoke grenade, or a soft kill technology that disturbs the missile’s sensor with electronic equipment came out. It has recently developed into a hard kill technology that directly destroys anti-tank weapons by firing counter-bombs.

It is equipped with an Iron Fist that intercepts enemy anti-tank missiles approaching with Redback Armored vehicles with Active Phase Array Radar (AESA). This is how the Aegis destroyer shoots down enemy ballistic missiles with SM-3 missiles.

There is also Iron Vision, where commanders can see the situation outside with a special helmet inside the armored car. The crew inside the armored vehicle cannot see outside. The sight and periscope are tools to observe the outside, but the field of view is very narrow.

However, Iron Vision sprays images outside the armored car on a helmet-mounted display. If you turn your head, you can see the exterior as it is over the transparent armored vehicle. Iron Fist and Iron Vision are Israeli technology.

Redback’s track is not iron, but a composite rubber track (CRT). It is made of rubber, heat-resistant reinforced synthetic fiber, and iron wire. Compared to iron tracks, CRTs have less running noise and higher maneuvering performance. Durability is also increased. It’s more than 50% lighter than iron tracks, so it’s a bonus to save fuel.

An official from Hanwha Defense said, “Redback’s Iron Fist, Iron Vision, and CRT can be applied immediately to K21 if given a budget.”

There is also an opinion to cure the chronic disease of K21 during the second mass production. That’s the Doha performance.

The K21 has special airbags on both sides. When it encounters a river, it attaches air to the air bag and launches an armored vehicle into the water. It is a performance considering the topography of Korea, where there are many rivers flowing through the mountains. In an emergency, North Korea, where the mobile troops will go up, does not have many legs, and it is unclear whether it will withstand the weight of tanks or armored vehicles. That’s why the army command decided that the K21 had to cross the river without doha equipment.

The problem was that the weight of the armored car had to be reduced to incorporate Doha’s performance into the design. This is why we hear that the 25t K21 is lighter than other IFVs. On the other hand, the redback has no Doha performance. Instead, he wore thick gloves leisurely.

In addition, in December 2009 and July 2010, the K21 had a flood accident during Doha. Sadly, there were also those who died. A military official asking for anonymity said:

There are not many rivers deep enough to do Doha in Korea. The Army wants to introduce self-propelled Doha equipment that will quickly build bridges. Choi Hyun-ho, a freelance writer specializing in the military, said, “Heavy armor and heavy armament of armored vehicles are the most popular in the world.”

Prior to transfusion of redback blood to K21, the army can directly operate the redback. It is said that the two redbags that have been evaluated in Australia can return to Korea at the end of this year. A government official said, “If you bring a prototype of the red bag to Korea at the end of the year, you can consider how the army will pilot it.” Or you can order two pilot red bags. Whether you bring it from Australia or order a new one, it’s’Eat pheasants and eat eggs’.

As the army rolls two redbacks, it is possible to draw a sketch of the K21 2nd mass production project. It also helps redbag export to Australia. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration operates a military pilot system for export weapons systems. This is a system in which the Korean military operates a weapon system developed for export by a company for a certain period of time, and then provides operational results. Since April of last year, six-wheeled armored vehicles, four-wheeled armored vehicles, and firearms have already been used in the military for demonstration purposes.

The already deployed K21 can also be transformed into a red bag. From 2023, K21 is brought from the field to the factory, and maintenance is carried out to improve the performance and inspect it. At this time, the performance can be increased to the level of redback.

The problem is cost. The unit price of the new red bag is considerably more expensive than the K21, which is around 4 billion won. Depot maintenance costs are also needed more than 2 billion won. However, some point out that it is more economical to increase the performance immediately than to upgrade the K21 to the current redback level 10 years later.

The redback is incomparable to the K21 in defense. The budget to protect the lives of soldiers in the era of low birth rates is no longer a waste. I hope the government and military authorities will make a wise decision.

Reporters Cheoljae Lee and Yonghan Park [email protected]