À̹ÌÁö È®´ë [Photo provided by Kia Motors Corp.]
South Korea¡¯s Kia Motors Corp. is building military vehicles for the Korean army to extend application for military-style heavy-duty civilian SUVs and trucks.
The company announced Wednesday it held a critical design review (CDR) with the Korean army to present the design of 2.5- and 5-tonne trucks built on next-generation platform standardized for tactical missions at its Gwangju factory on Oct. 20.
Other development-related government officials also joined the review and agreed to kick off prototype development within the year for operational test and evaluation in 2021.
Kia Motors aims to supply the new tactical vehicles to the military from 2024.
The latest project is to replace the existing standard 2.5- and 5-tonne tactical trucks and develop new 5-tonne armored vehicles, jointly invested by Kia Motors and the Korean army for five years. They have signed a partnership for the development at the end of December last year.
New standard mid-sized vehicles, which will be powered by a 7-liter diesel engine, are reported to feature various safety and convenience options like rear cross-traffic collision-avoidance assist with latest technologies. The company plans to use the new cars as a modular design for future upgrades.
ATVs based on bare chassis of Kia Motors¡¯ Mohave SUV also are under development. A new concept ATV is scheduled for a showcase early next year. The carmaker plans to apply the heavy-tactical solutions to design vehicles for civilian leisure or industrial employment.
Kia Motors has been active in development of next-generation technologies applicable on military vehicles. Autonomous driving solution, for example, can be used to deploy unmanned vehicles at military camps or airports and transport military supplies to the frontlines.
By Seo Jin-woo and Lee Ha-yeon
[¨Ï Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]