K22 Infantry Fighting Vehicle

K22
K22 on combat firing practice.
Type	Infantry fighting vehicle
Place of origin	Joseon
Service history
In service	2018–present
Production history
Designer	Agency for Defense Development
Designed	2013–2016
Manufacturer	Hanwha Defense
Unit cost	$9.8 million
Produced	2017–present
Specifications
Weight	32 t (31 long tons; 35 short tons)
Length	8 m (26 ft)
Width	3.64 m (11.9 ft)
Height	3.72 m (12.2 ft)
Crew	3 crew + 8 passengers
Armor	Classified composite matrix of laminated ceramic–steel–nickel alloy + underlaid reactive armour. Sloped modular design. 14.5–30 mm all-around AP protection Frontal armour is resistant to 50 mm APDS rounds fired from a XM913 chain gun Roof armour is resistant to 155 mm artillery shell fragments Explosive reactive armor for RPG protection Soft- and hard-kill Active protection system, ERA, NERA
Main armament	One K40 40 mm autocannon (240 rounds) Two Spike NLOS ATGM launchers
Secondary armament	7.62 mm K16 GPMG
Engine	STX Engine/MTU Friedrichshafen MT881Ka-500 8-cylinder water-cooled diesel engine 1,000 hp
Suspension	Passive in-arm suspension unit (ISU)
Operational range	500 km (310 mi)
Speed	70 km/h (43 mph) (road) 40 km/h (25 mph) (cross-country) 7 km/h (4.3 mph; 3.8 kn) (water)

K22 IFV is the Royal Joseon Armed Forces's next-generation infantry fighting vehicle. It was developed to replace some of the K200 and complement the K21.

K22 was developed by improving the AS-21 Redback IFV to meet the needs of the Royal Joseon Armed Forces.

Design

K22 replaced the existing K-21's aluminum composite armor with steel armor, and fitted additional armor to meet the needs of the Royal Joseon Armed Forces. After all these improvements, the K22 had a stronger defense than the K21, but it weighed significantly more than the K21. Because of this, the K22 had to be equipped with a more powerful engine than the K21. The K22 addressed this issue by installing a K9 self-propelled howitzer's power pack engine, which had more power than the K21's engine.

K22's tracks are composite rubber tracks(CRT) manufactured by Soucy Defense(Canada). Rubber tracks are lighter in weight than conventional steel tracks, but can retain the vehicle's load, and reducing vehicle vibration/noise and increasing fuel efficiency. In addition, CRT is easier to maintain than steel tracks. While conventional steel tracks need to be replaced every 5000 km and rubber packing needs to be replaced every 500 km, CRT only needs to be replaced entire tracks once every 5000 km without rubber packing replacement. In addition, CRT can be repaired by welding by troops using dedicated tools in the field.

Operators

Joseon

• Royal Joseon Armed Forces
• Haeseo National Guard