South Korea unveils next generation KAAV-II amphibious assault vehicle

The scale model of the KAAV-II as displayed during Seoul International ADEX 2019. Photo c/o Shephard Media.

As part of the recently concluded Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition (ADEX) 2019, South Korea’s Hanwha Defense presented a scale model of its next generation Korean Amphibious Assault Vehicle II (KAAV-II).

Hanwha is currently developing the vehicle to meet a future requirement from the Republic of Korea Marine Corps (ROKMC), and is expected to replace the current KAAV based on the BAE Systems AAV-7A1 amphibious assault vehicle.

South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development (ADD) is also assisting Hanwha Defense in the vehicle development, with the first stage “Exploratory Development Stage” is expected to be completed by September 2022, and prototypes released for testing.

Second stage “System Development Stage” using information taken from the prototypes, is expected to commence from 2023 to 2028, before serial production at Hanwha’s Changwon facility to take place by 2029.

The vehicle will feature locally-manufactured and developed parts and subsystems, although major components will be initially imported until Korean industries can come up with a local alternative. This includes Germany’s MTU providing the propulsion engine, Canada’s Kinetics Drive Solutions for the transmission, rubber tracks from Canada’s Soucy Track, 

The KAAV-II was designed to have a crew of three, and carry up to twenty one marines. It will have a maximum speed of 70 kilometers per hour on land, and 25 kilometers per hour (13.5 knots) on water. It will have a maximum range of 480 kilometers on a single fuel tank, and will have a designed endurance of 2 hours over water.

The scale model features an unmanned turret armed with a 40mm cased telescopic autocannon being developed by South Korea’s S&T Motiv, which will include munitions for the gun.



[1] Jane’s Defence Industry
[2] Naval News
[3] Shephard Media