KAAV II Korean Amphibious Assault Vehicle II
KAAV-II (Korean Amphibious Assault Vehicle) is a project to secure an assault armored vehicle through domestic research and development. The KAAV II is being developed for the Republic of Korea (RoK) Marine Corps by Hanwha Defense, taking into account the arrival of the life cycle of the currently in operation amphibious assault vehicle (KAAVP-7A1). The KAAV II is intended to replace around 200 of the first version of the KAAV currently in operation with the RoK Marine Corps. In 2015, South Korea began to develop KAAV-II.
KAAV-I is actually the Korean version of the American AAV-7A1 amphibious assault vehicle. South Korea purchased the production license from the United States in 1993 and began mass production in 1998. About 150 AAVs were built under license by Hanwha Defense. It is equipped with a 40mm grenade launcher and a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun. Its prototype AAV-7 was developed in the 1960s and 1970s, and its firepower, mobility, protection, and digitalization have seriously lagged behind the times.
The release of most of the KAAV II is expected to be organized at the Hanwha Defense production facilities in Changwon. At the same time, some of the units will be imported, at least initially: the engine is planned to be obtained from the German MTU of Germany, the transmission from the Canadian Kinetics Drive Solutions (a subsidiary of Singapore Technologies Engineering).
At ADEX 2019 in October 2019, the air and defense exhibition held in Seoul, South Korea, local company Hanwha Defense unveiled a scale model of the future KAAV II amphibious assault vehicle. The large-scale international exhibition of the aerospace and defense industry International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition, ADEX, is held every two years under the auspices of the Military Ministry of the Republic of Korea. The event was first held in 1996 as an air show in Seoul and expanded into an exhibition of ground-based military equipment and defense technologies in 2009. The main goal of ADEX is to enhance South Korea's global status as a country with military capabilities, promote Korean aerospace and defense products for export, and mutual exchange with foreign military industries. On the sidelines of ADEX, current meetings are held, defense diplomacy is discussed, negotiations and business consultations are underway regarding military procurement projects.
The project was in “exploratory development stage”. This stage was set to be completed in September 2022, bu this a delayd more than a year. The exploration and development project (October 2018 - December 2023) aimed to secure key technologies and demonstrate maximum speed driving before starting the system development project. It will be followed by the system development stage that will start in 2023 and finish in 2028. The KAAV-II program will then enter mass production from 2029.
Exloratory development includes marine propulsion technology, marine operation body conversion technology, and variable suspension devices. The focus was on developing technology, lightweight armor technology, etc., concretizing the operational concept through land mobile prototype, sea mobile prototype, and vehicle operability verification tests, and analyzing/setting the optimal military required performance. The company transfered two versions of the new combat vehicle to the South Korean defense research agency. One sample will be tested on land, and the second on water.
Affected by the epidemic, the IOC (Basic Combat Capability) test originally scheduled for 2021 has been postponed to 2023. Delivery to the Marine Corps is expected to begin in 2024 after passing the test, and all deliveries are expected to be completed by 2036.
Two defense company employees died 26 September 2023 after the armored vehicle prototype they boarded was submerged during a test operation on the southeastern coast in Pohang, The KAAV-II encountered a flooding accident while testing in the waters near the 1st Marine Division of the South Korean Marine Corps. The vehicle was undergoing testing about 1 km from the shore when it sank. After the KAAV-II sank in water, the Pohang Coast Guard, the 119 Rescue Team, the Civilian Maritime Rescue Team, and the First Division of the South Korean Marine Corps quickly launched a rescue. After more than an hour of searching, the missing KAAV-II was finally discovered underwater. The two employees who were inside the landing assault armored vehicle were initially rescued after going missing earlier in the day but died after they were taken to a hospital, according to Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). They received cardiopulmonary resuscitation at the hospital but failed to regain consciousness.
Korea JoongAng Daily editorialized 02 October 2023 "Accidents and faults can take place at any time when testing a new weapon. Discovering any defects during the trial process can be helpful to prevent any problems later. But such a deadly accident must not take place. Extra care and preparation are necessary for any prototypes. The victims were discovered two hours after the vehicle sank into the sea. Whether rescue and safety equipment had been fully equipped before sending the vehicle to the sea of 10 meters (33 feet) deep raises a question. Hanwha has joined the KAAV project after acquiring a defense company responsible for the K21 infantry fighting vehicle which caused a sinking accident in 2010. Although it is the largest defense company, Hanwha lost five lives from explosion accidents in May 2018 and three others in February 2019. The company should have been thoroughly prepared for any possible accidents. Military authorities must carry out an intensive investigation on the lead-up to the accident."
South Korean media said this may lead to a delay in the service of the new amphibious assault vehicle and affect the South Korean military's strategic deterrence capability against North Korea.
