Production from 2040: South Korea's next main battle tank to run on hydrogen

The South Korean engineering group Hyundai Rotem is developing the world's first battle tank powered by hydrogen. This was reported by South Korean media citing anonymous industry sources. According to older reports, a first prototype of the K3 could be built in 2030, with series production scheduled for 2040 at the earliest. According to the Korea Times, the Hyundai subsidiary wants to develop a hybrid model first, which will also be equipped with one of the usual diesel drives, before the pure hydrogen version follows. Among other things, this should benefit from a reduced heat signature and be significantly easier to maintain.

Hydrogen, AI, autonomous driving & drones

At Hyundai Rotem, the future main battle tank is still called the "Next-Generation Main Battle Tank", and there is no mention of the hydrogen drive on the associated website. It merely states that it will surpass all the capabilities of today's main battle tanks. Firepower, control options and crew protection will also be improved. With this development, the company is proactively preparing for the warfare of the future: "Keeping the peace is our primary goal." According to reports, the main battle tank will also be equipped with an AI-based fire control system, autonomous driving capabilities and drones.

To date, hydrogen has not played a relevant role as an energy source for vehicles, neither in passenger cars nor in the transportation sector; battery-electric drives seem to be winning the race in the move away from fossil fuels. For tanks, on the other hand, diesel is common, while hydrogen fuel cell systems have the advantage that they run much more quietly. Whether they will actually find their way into battle tanks remains to be seen. It is currently more than 15 years until planned series production. Just a few weeks ago, Hyundai itself announced a cooperation with Skoda with the aim of promoting hydrogen as an energy source.

(mho)