South Korea
Korean IFV The exact designation for the so-called Korean IFV, or KIFV, has never been disclosed (it may be K-200). It is manufactured by Daewoo Heavy Industries and is based on an American FMC private venture design derived from the Ml 13 APC (qv), although a significant number of local innovations have been introduced; FMC were not involved at any stage. Aluminium armour from the United Kingdom is used for the hull (covered by spaced laminate steel plates) while the power pack, coupled to an American transmission, is German, The first KIFV examples entered service in 1985, with well over 1,000 units having been manufactured by early 1994. Most have been the IFV version, armed with a pintle-mounted 12.7 mm MG protected by a small open turret behind a shield, plus a 7.62 mm MG over the commander's cupola. The rear hull roof is raised to increase internal head room for the seven personnel carried; they are provided with an NBC collective protection system
as standard. A trim vane is stowed on the front glacis as the KIFV is amphibious, being propelled in the water by its tracks. The KIFV is only one of a family of vehicles on the same base chassis, The others include an air defence vehicle armed with a single 20 mm Vulcan rotary cannon, a recovery vehicle with a prominent recovery crane, an NBC reconnaissance vehicle (which has appeared only in prototype form to date), a command post, an armoured Korean IFV
ambulance, two types of mortar carrier (81 mm and 4,2-inch/107 mm), and a tank destroyer carrying a special turret to launch two TOW ATGWs. The latter variant is still at the proposal stage but most of the others are in service with the South Korean armed forces. More were ordered during 1993 and 1994 by Malaysia for issue to their troops operating with the United Nations forces in the former Yugoslavia.
