Hyundai Rotem announced on Dec. 30 that it has supplied the initial mass production of counter obstacle tanks to the Army on Dec. 29.
The obstacle removing tank supplied this time is the initial volume of Hyundai Rotem's mass production project won in December last year, and will be fully powered by 2023 after conducting field operations tests at military units in the future.
Previously, Hyundai Rotem won two orders from the Defense Acquisition Program Administration in December last year and June this year to mass-produce obstacle-removing tanks worth about 411.3 billion won.
The counter obstacle tank is the first tank to be introduced in Korea after Hyundai Rotem was selected as a system development company in 2014.
Hyundai Rotem has established a production task force for fast power of obstacle removing tanks and reduced production schedule by three months compared to existing power generation plans with optimized designs.
Based on the ability to remove landmines, the newly delivered obstacle removing tanks can show excellent performance in areas where large amounts of landmines are buried, such as the Demilitarized Zone.
In particular, if torrential rains occur in the summer, the risk of nearby residents and soldiers will surge due to the landmines swept away. However, it is expected that the use of obstacle development tanks will strengthen safety near the Demilitarized Zone.
Obstacle removing tanks can remove interpersonal and anti-tank landmines by using a mine removal plough on the front of the body, and can also remove self-sensitized landmines by firing magnetic fields with self-sensitized landmines.
It also has a body defense capability that can continue to carry out missions even if landmines explode during the mine removal operation.
A Hyundai Rotem official said, "We will make every effort to ensure that the force integration of the nation's first counter obstacle tank goes smoothly. We will diversify our defense portfolio along with existing products such as K2 tanks and wheel-type armored vehicles."
