The CN08 is a 120 mm 55-caliber smoothbore gun produced by Hyundai WIA. It is incorrectly known as the licensed production of the Rheinmetall Rh-120 L/55, but it was indigenously developed by the

Agency for Defense Development The Agency for Defense Development (ADD) is the South Korean national agency for research and development in defense technology, funded by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). It was established in August 1970 under the banner ...

and WIA (now Hyundai WIA) from 2003 to 2008 for the XK2 development project started in 1995. The development was completed after the operational test ended in September 2008.

Description

The CN08 is the main armament of the

K2 Black Panther The K2 Black Panther (Hangul: K2 '흑표'; Hanja: K2 '黑豹') is a South Korean main battle tank designed by the Agency for Defense Development and manufactured by Hyundai Rotem. The tank was designed to meet the strategic requirements of the Re ...

, and the

gun barrel A gun barrel is a crucial part of gun-type weapons such as small firearms, artillery pieces, and air guns. It is the straight shooting tube, usually made of rigid high-strength metal, through which a contained rapid expansion of high-pressure ...

is applied with internal

chrome plating Chrome plating (less commonly chromium plating) is a technique of electroplating a thin layer of chromium onto a metal object. A chrome-plated item is called ''chrome''. The chromed layer can be decorative, provide corrosion resistance, ease ...

technology for the large-caliber gun. The gun barrel can endure a high explosive force as a result of the increased stiffness and wear resistance provided by this internal chromium surface. The main components, including the breech ring,

breech block A breechblock (or breech block) is the part of the firearm action that closes the breech of a breech loading weapon (whether small arms or artillery) before or at the moment of firing. It seals the breech and contains the pressure generated by t ...

and

thermal sleeve A thermal sleeve, or blanket, is a device around the length of a gun barrel of a large caliber gun, typically found on modern tanks. Its primary purpose is to provide a more consistent temperature to the gun barrel preventing distortions due to th ...

, are simplified and designed lightly, the gun barrel weighs 1324 kg and the gun mount weighs 3103 kg. The gun mount consists of a hydro-pneumatic recoil system and is complemented by a bustle type

autoloader An autoloader or auto-loader is a mechanical aid or replacement for the personnel that load ordnance into crew-served weapons without being an integrated part of the gun itself. The term is generally only applied to larger weapons, such as naval ...

powered by a main gun controller combined with a breech opening motor that automatically opens and closes the gun tube, it can fire up to 10 rounds a minute. The

chamber pressure Within firearms, chamber pressure is the pressure exerted by a cartridge case's outside walls on the inside of a firearm's chamber when the cartridge is fired. The SI unit for chamber pressure is the megapascal (MPa), while the American SAAMI uses ...

of the

tank gun A tank gun is the main armament of a tank. Modern tank guns are high-velocity, large-caliber artilleries capable of firing kinetic energy penetrators, high-explosive anti-tank, and cannon-launched guided projectiles. Anti-aircraft guns can also ...

is , and

muzzle velocity Muzzle velocity is the speed of a projectile (bullet, pellet, slug, ball/shots or shell) with respect to the muzzle at the moment it leaves the end of a gun's barrel (i.e. the muzzle). Firearm muzzle velocities range from approximately to i ...

is . It depends on the type of ammunition, but the effective firing range of the tank gun is . In addition, the top of the thermal sleeve of the gun barrel is mounted with a Dynamic Muzzle Reference System (DMRS). This dynamic muzzle reference system allows the tank gun to accurately hit the target even when the tank is maneuvering on irregular terrain.

Ammunition

CN08's 120 mm round is produced in

Poongsan Corporation ''Poongsan'' (; lit. "Phungsan Dog") is a 2011 South Korean thriller film directed by Juhn Jai-hong, starring Yoon Kye-sang and Kim Gyu-ri. Poongsan, whose real name is never revealed, is a mysterious messenger who crosses the demarcation line b ...

, a South Korean ammunition manufacturer, and can fire 120×570 mm NATO tank ammunition.

Export

Turkey

On July 29 2008,

Hyundai Rotem Hyundai Rotem (founded in 1977) is a South Korean company that manufactures rolling stock, defense products and plant equipment. It is a part of the Hyundai Motor Group. Its name was changed from Rotem to Hyundai Rotem in December 2007 to refl ...

and

Otokar Otokar Otomotiv ve Savunma Sanayi A.Ş., also known simply as Otokar, is a Turkish bus and military vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Sakarya, Turkey. Otokar is a subsidiary of Koç Holding. History Otokar was founded in 1963 as Turkey's ...

signed a contract for technology transfer and design assistance for the Altay Tank Development Project. This contract includes technology transfer and design assistance for systems, armor package, and 120 mm guns required for Altay tank development.

Poland

On July 27, 2022,

Polish Armaments Group The Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ SA) is a holding company established by the Polish government to unite Polish state owned defence industry companies. The headquarters of this group is in Radom. The Group comprises over 30 companies (including ...

(PGZ) and Hyundai Rotem signed a

framework agreement In the context of negotiations, a framework agreement is an agreement between two parties that recognizes that the parties have not come to a final agreement on all matters relevant to the relationship between them, but have come to agreement on en ...

to supply 180 K2s and 820 K2PLs. The agreement will include rapid arms supply and extensive

technology transfer Technology transfer (TT), also called transfer of technology (TOT), is the process of transferring (disseminating) technology from the person or organization that owns or holds it to another person or organization, in an attempt to transform invent ...

from South Korea, and 180 K2s will be produced in South Korea and delivered to Poland from 2022, and 820 K2PLs will be produced in Poland under license from 2026.

Variants

MKE 120 mm tank gun The MKE 120 mm tank gun is a Turkish 120 mm 55 caliber smoothbore gun based on CN08 120 mm gun produced by the Turkish company Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation, used on the Turkish Altay tank. The gun has a length of . The gun can f ...

: Turkish 120 mm 55 caliber smoothbore gun modified based on CN08 for the Altay tank. The design of the tank gun is the same as CN08, but there are two differences: unlike CN08,

is equipped with Static Muzzle Reference System (SMRS), and Altay's turret does not have breech opening motor and automatic feeding magazine system for autoloader mechanism, so ammunition can only be loaded manually by tank crew and can fire up to 6 rounds a minute.

Operators

Current operators

* –

Polish Land Forces The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stret ...

* –

Republic of Korea Army The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA; ko, 대한민국 육군; Hanja: 大韓民國陸軍; RR: ''Daehanminguk Yuk-gun''), also known as the ROK Army or South Korean Army, is the army of South Korea, responsible for ground-based warfare. It is the l ...

Notes

References

{{reflist 120 mm artillery Tank guns Tank guns of South Korea Military equipment introduced in the 2000s