Tanks of South Korea
In the North, a former anti-Japanese guerrilla and communist activist, Kim Il Sung gained power through Soviet support.
In the South, elections supervised by the United Nations were held, a Republic of Korea was declared, and Syngman Rhee inaugurated as its first president.
Short on heavy weapons, tanks, warplanes, and sometimes even basic small arms, South Korean troops were largely ill disciplined, rough, and incompetent due to not enough funding and training from being recently established.
[3] Countering the initial combat imbalance, the UN Command reinforcement matériel included heavier US M4 Sherman, M26 Pershing, M46 Patton, and British Cromwell Churchill and Centurion tanks that proved effective against North Korean armor, reversing the situation.
The heavier M26 Pershing was deemed unsatisfactory due to its inferior mobility, and in November, 1949, the upgraded M26 received a new power plant and a main gun with bore evacuator, and the M46 Patton designation.
After huge advances on both sides, and massive losses among Korean civilians in both the north and the south, the war eventually reached a stalemate.
The 1953 armistice, never signed by South Korea, split the peninsula along the demilitarized zone near the original demarcation line.
It was heavily damaged by North Korean and Chinese attacks and in the beginning relied almost entirely on American support for weapons, ammunition and technology.
Between 1950 and 1953, during the Korean War, the two opposing armies of South and North Korea received large quantities of military supplies and vehicles and tanks from foreign powers.
Tanks of the ROK Army include these older M48 Patton series, as well as the more recent K1, K1A1 which bear a 120 mm smooth-bore gun and are of local manufacture, and Russian-built T-80U.
A number of other plans were also devised, such as upgrading the existing M48 Pattons to the M48A3 and A5 standard, as well as obtaining a license to domestically produce Germany's Leopard 1 main battle tank.
The XK1 retained the XM1's M68E1 105 mm rifled main gun, which would also be domestically produced under license with the designation KM68, as well as a fire control system by Hughes Aircraft Company and the Nd:YAG laser rangefinder.
One of the major differences was the addition of tank commander's independent panoramic sights on the XK1, which was missing on XM1, giving the XK1 the capability to utilize the fire-control system (FCS) more effectively, notably by engaging in hunter-killer tactics, which the M1 series could not do until the introduction of the M1A2.
The new system also replaced the Nd:YAG laser rangefinder used in the Hughes unit with a CO2-based one, which has proven to be safer to the users' eyes, although having less effective range than the former in foul weather.
This was upgraded to the K1A1 is an up-gunned variant with a 120 mm 44 caliber smoothbore gun, and outfitted with more modern electronics, ballistic computers, fire control systems, and armor.
A sizable arsenal of many artillery systems, including 1,700 self-propelled K55 and K9 Thunder howitzers and 680 helicopters and UAVs of numerous types, are assembled to provide additional fire, reconnaissance, and logistics support.
The K2 also features radar equipment as well as all-bearing laser detection system and reactive armor comparable to the American M1A2 and French Leclerc.
