Hyundai Doosan Infracore to supply engines for K2 tanks bound for Poland

Hyundai Doosan Infracore Co., a South Korean construction equipment company, said on Tuesday it has signed a 180 billion won ($138 million) contract to supply tank engines to Hyundai Rotem Co.

Under the deal, Hyundai Doosan, a unit of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, will supply the engines it developed to Hyundai Rotem for its K2 Black Panther, a next-generation main battle tank, for three years from June 2023.

The tanks equipped with locally produced engines will be exported to Poland.

Last week, Hyundai Rotem, a defense equipment maker, delivered the first batch of 10 K2 tanks to Poland.

The delivery is part of the 180 K2 tanks that Poland in August agreed to purchase from Hyundai Rotem in a $3.4 billion deal – Korea’s first export of such battle tanks.

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The 27-liter V-type 12-cylinder engine, with 1,500 horsepower, enables a 56-ton tank to travel at a maximum speed of 70 km per hour, according to Hyundai Doosan Infracore. The engine also boasts excellent fuel economy and starts at low temperatures.

With the export of the engines mounted on the K2 tanks to Poland, Hyundai Doosan said it will actively seek to expand its presence in the European and Middle Eastern defense engine markets.

Under a broader $15 billion deal Poland inked with Korean defense companies in July, the Baltic country agreed to buy 980 units of the K2 tanks, 648 units of the K9 self-propelled howitzers and 48 units of the FA-50 light combat aircraft.

Poland has been aggressively purchasing weapons, mainly from South Korea, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year. A member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Poland has sent its MIG-29 warplanes to Ukraine in support of the Ukraine government.

Write to Ik-Hwan Kim at lovepen@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.