The Daewoo Precision Industries K3 is a South Korean light machine-gun. It is the third indigenous firearm developed in South Korea by the Agency for Defense Development, following the Daewoo Precision Industries K1

submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...

and Daewoo Precision Industries K2 assault rifle. It is manufactured by Daewoo Precision Industries, current S&T Motiv. The K3 is capable of firing both

5.56×45mm NATO The 5.56×45mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 5.56 NATO, but often pronounced "five-five-six") is a rimless bottlenecked intermediate cartridge family developed in the late 1970s in Belgium by FN Herstal. It consists of the SS109, L110, and ...

and Remington rounds like the K2 assault rifle. The K3 light machine gun entered service in 1989, replacing the

M60 machine gun The M60, officially the Machine Gun, Caliber 7.62 mm, M60, is a family of American general-purpose machine guns firing 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges from a disintegrating belt of M13 links. There are several types of ammunition approved for ...

in frontline use.

Development

The K3 is a light machine gun resembling the FN Minimi and uses a standard

cartridge. Its greatest advantage is that it is lighter than the M60 and can interchange cartridges with both the K1A and K2. The feed can come from either a 30-round box magazine or a 200-round disintegrating M27 ammunition belt. It can be used with a bipod for the Squad Automatic role, and fitted with a tripod for sustained fire support. The rear sight is adjustable for elevation and windage, and the foresight can be adjusted for elevation for zeroing. The barrel has a built-in carry handle for ease of changing the barrel. The gun is gas operated, with a rotating bolt. The weapon system was not designed for customization, due to the fact that most soldiers of the South Korean military will not see extended use of their weapons. By 2015, ROK forces were looking to obtain a new LMG, as the K3 was suffering from age and reliability issues. S&T Motiv is attempting to win the contract by modernizing the K3 with a side-folding adjustable stock, an integral MIL-STD-1913 rail on feed cover, detachable side and underside rails, a carbon fiber heat shield over barrel, an improved muzzle brake/flash hider, folding iron sights, and an upgraded feed system. The same improvements would also be applied to the shorter "Para" version. As of 2019, it has not been adopted for general service, but it has been suggested that special forces units could use it.

K15

In late 2018, the S&T Motiv "Next-Generation LMG" was standardized as the K15, a heavily upgraded version of the K3 planned for fielding to the ROK Army by 2020. It has an adjustable buttstock and redesigned pistol grip/trigger group component for improved ergonomics, and internal parts are reconfigured and manufactured with closer tolerances for better reliability. Unlike the K3, it uses a push button to hold and release the barrel with three upper positioning lugs to ensure the barrel sits on a correct position when reattached. The feed cover and handguard have rails integrally attached, rather than needing an adapter to have them installed like the K3; this helps it to utilize a day/night fire control system that uses a thermal sight,

laser rangefinder A laser rangefinder, also known as a laser telemeter, is a rangefinder that uses a laser beam to determine the distance to an object. The most common form of laser rangefinder operates on the time of flight principle by sending a laser pulse in ...

and ballistic computer. Each leg of the bipod operates independently to make for a more sturdy firing platform and the front sight is collapsible. The K15 is still fed from a 200-round plastic container and also can accept a STANAG magazine in emergency situations. Although the new design is more reliable, it is heavier at without the FCS and with the FCS.THE ROK ARMY’S NEXT SQUAD AUTOMATIC WEAPON THE K15 LMG
''Small Arms Defense Journal''. 19 December 2019. Deliveries began in December 2022.

Foreign sales

One example of the K3 was purchased by South Africa in 2006, and two examples were purchased by Thailand in the same year. A controversy broke out 2007 in the Philippines when the country's Armed Forces initially selected the FN Minimi rather than picking the K3 or the 5.56 mm Ultimax from Singapore. The AFP's Modernization Program was attacked for showing favoritism towards a Western firearms company over Asian arms manufacturers. Ultimately, 6,540 K3s were acquired by the Philippine Army for their SAW requirement. 5,883 units were first shown in public on February 18, 2008, together with 603 newly delivered Kia KM-450 trucks.

Variants

* XK3: Experimental prototype. * K3: Standard mass-produced variant. * K3Para: Shortened version of K3 with RAS and minor modifications. First revealed in 2015. * K15: Heavily redesigned and modernized version.

Users

* : 400 K3s acquired in 2006. * * * * : 110 K3s acquired in 2006, and additional 803 in 2011. * : Standard squad automatic weapon. Planned to replace with K3 Para. * : Philippine Army acquired 6,540 units in 2008. K3s acquired by Philippine National Police in 2019. * : 2 K3s transferred according to a 2019 SIPRI small arms report.

References

External links

{{commons category, Daewoo K3
K1 through K7 images

Light machine guns Machine guns of South Korea Military equipment introduced in the 1990s