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Seoul (UPI) Dec 9, 2010 Design flaws in the Doosan K-21 tracked infantry fighting vehicle caused two sinkings, one in which a soldier died, a South Korean report said. A team of military and civilian experts made the conclusion after a two-month investigation into both incidents that happened within the past year, South Korea's Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said when he presented the report to the National Assembly. A lack of buoyancy, malfunctioning of the wave-plate and drain pump problems were key factors in the sinkings, the report said. Last July, a soldier died when a K-21 sank during an exercise at a training base around 200 miles south of Seoul. The army said a non-commissioned officer failed to escape the vehicle in which he and two other soldiers were riding when it accidentally slipped into a reservoir. "We'll thoroughly look into the cause of the incident in cooperation with Doosan DST," an Army spokesman said. "If there are problems with the vehicle's design, we'll hold the company accountable." A Doosan official said authorities would "investigate the cause of the accident in a careful and measured way." The previous December three crew had to be rescued from a K-21 during a river crossing. Water flowed into the engine's air-intake hose causing it to shut down, army officials said. "There is the possibility of a design problem," a military official said at the time. "The air induction nozzle might have been attached too low. After holding a meeting to determine the cause of the accident, we will come up with countermeasures, such as changing the design or using a plug to stop the intake of water.'' The report is published at a critical time for the vehicle which entered service with the South Korean army in November 2009 after a decade of development. It was a joint project costing around $78 million by manufacturer Doosan DST and the state-funded Agency for Defense Development. Doosan DST is a spinoff from Doosan Infracore, the name of the business formed when Doosan acquired Daewoo Heavy Industries & Machinery in April 2005. The investigating team's report comes after the K-21 received its first export order last month -- a $70 million contract for 22 vehicles destined for the Indonesian army over the next three years. The first K-21 contract, worth $210 million, was signed with the South Korean army in 2008 and was crucial for ensuring production of the vehicle up to 2012. A year ago, Doosan DST signed a second contract with South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration for around 500 K-21 vehicles worth $665 million. The Indonesian contract is expected to keep the vehicle in production up to 2013 at least. Doosan compares the K-21 to the M2A3 Bradley, made by BAE Systems Land and Armaments, formerly United Defense as part of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle family, and also Russia's 1980's Soviet-era BMP-3 vehicle made by Kurganmashzavod. The K-21 weighs around 25 tons, carries three crew and one platoon of troops at speeds up to 40 mph on land and just less than 5 mph in water. Power is by a Doosan D2840LXE V-10 turbocharged diesel engine generating 750hp, with a fully automatic transmission. An upgraded K-21 has an 840hp power plant. "An armored vehicle weighing 25 tons or more is required to maintain at least 20 percent of reserve buoyancy when it crosses the river, but the K-21 has been found not to meet that requirement," Kim told the National Assembly. Weight distribution of the personnel inside the vehicle was a problem. The front of the vehicle where crew sat became heavier than the rear section, allowing water to flow into the air intake hose of the engine, Kim said. Also, the height of the wave-plate was found to be shorter than required. It needed to be 22 centimeters high, as stated in the original design. But the manufacturer changed the design in consultation with the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality. The design of the vehicle will be modified for further tests in February, Kim said.
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China, North Korea stand fast despite US angerSeoul (AFP) Dec 9, 2010 Communist allies North Korea and China proclaimed their unity Thursday as the North's leader Kim Jong-Il held his first meeting with a senior Chinese envoy since the region's worst crisis in years erupted. China's most senior foreign policymaker Dai Bingguo visited Pyongyang as pressure intensifies on Beijing to rein in its neighbour, after North Korea's deadly shelling of a South Korean isl ... read more |
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