Korean Army wraps first overseas tank, howitzer drill in Qatar

Home > National > Defense

Korean Army wraps first overseas tank, howitzer drill in Qatar

Published: 29 Oct. 2024, 19:03

The Korean Army's K2 tanks participate in a two-week joint military drill with the Qatari ground forces at the Al Qalayel training center in Qatar, in a photo provided by the Army on Oct. 21. [YONHAP]

The Army said Tuesday it concluded its first overseas drills with tank and howitzer units in Qatar earlier this week, after it deployed some 100 troops to a desert training ground in the Middle Eastern country.

The live-fire and maneuver drills, which mobilized four K2 tanks and four K9A1 self-propelled howitzers, drew to a close Sunday after a two-week run at Qatar's Al Qalayel training center, according to the Army.

During the exercise period, the tanks and howitzers trained alongside Qatar's German-made Leopard 2A7 tanks and Panzerhaubitze 2000 howitzers, conducting various combined combat drills.

The Army said the K2 tanks showed off their live-fire capabilities by striking targets 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) away, beyond their maximum effective firing range of over 3 kilometers, at a hit rate of more than 80 percent.

After the field training exercise, the Army's K10 ammunition resupply vehicles demonstrated artillery shell resupplying operations for K9 howitzers to a group of Qatari military and government officials, it said.

Korea has recently sought closer defense industry ties with Qatar amid its push to become a major global arms exporter, signing a bilateral memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation in February.

Yonhap