This one slipped through the cracks, but apparently an 11 man Libyan military delegation came to town on March 20th and inquired about South Korean weaponry. Per a government source:
“The Libyan delegation apparently sought cooperation with Korea in the defense industry. I understand that since it normalized relations with the U.S., Libya has been seeking to purchase weapons from various countries.”
Now I know that Libya is supposedly a reformed nation now, off the terrorist list and all, Qaddafi found Mohammad or whatever, but com’on, doesn’t it still make you nervous? The article goes on:
“… the Libyan delegation asked for information on radar systems, as well as Korean-style battle tanks (next-generation XK2s), KT-1 basic trainer jets and T-50 advanced trainer jets. The source said DAPA apparently supplied the delegation with the information it wanted. “
Uh, information? Full color marketing brochures right?
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10 Comments
Congratulations on your first post, WangKon.
Well, it won’t be the first time that S. Korea has helped Qaddafi, militarily.
Thanks mins.
Actually, my first post was this:
http://www.rjkoehler.com/2008/.....-to-graft/
My thoughts are that Korean weapons like the XK2 have got to be impractical for Libya. They have 3rd world neighbors. Why do they need a tank with 1st world capabilities?
However, I can see the KT-1 filling a role. That is unless Libya puts Russian rockets on the wings and use it to bomb Sudanese villiages…
Aren’t Korean tanks designed for mountainous terrains? I thought Libya was mostly deserts and dry plains?
Why yes they are, particularly with that groovy, low-rider suspension it has. However, the Turks also have dry plains and deserts (in addition to hilly areas) for their planned version of the XK2. Thus, I imagine that its frame has room for a variety of configurations…
Oh..ok, didn’t catch that. Well I’m not a regular participant so….
Anyway, one of Libya’s neighbors is Egypt, which if I remember correctly once got itself into a shooting war with that particular nation. Egypt has a high-tech arsenal which includes F-16s, E-2C Hawkeyes, AH-64 Apaches, and M1A1 Abrams battle tanks.
So, it’s obvious why they might be interesed in the XK2.
As for XK2 having a frame for a variety of configurations, not sure about that. Need to recheck a magazine I have at home.
Frame was probably a bad choice of wording. I do know that the Turks will make a number of modifications to the XK2 to make it a better operational fit with their likely tactical scenarios.
So Egypt has all that huh? Why don’t they just get Kornets to counter the M1s and just lure the Apaches into kill zones with a lot of anti-aircraft fire? I’ve become rather disappointed in the Apache’s demonstrated vulnerability to small arms fire.
Good point.
But on the hand, the same argument can also apply to S. Korea. Why doesn’t the ROKA buy more anti-tank missiles, which are cheaper, instead of the hugely expensive XK2?
Dollars and cents.
- 3rd generation ATGW, $20k.
- Modern MBT, $8m.
It’s about the export market, not national defense.
Actually, I was talking about how national pride and prestige influences the procurement of weapon systems, instead of plain old common sense.
That too.