Daewoo Precision Industries K2

Daewoo Precision Industries K2 assault rifle was developed by the Agency for Defense Development and manufactured by Daewoo Precision Industries. It is currently used as the standard service rifle of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces. Shoulder-fired and gas-operated containing long-stroke piston, the K2 is capable of firing both 5.56x45mm NATO and .223 Remington ammunitions, but use of .223 Remington will fail to achieve its full potential, decreasing its accuracy and effective range slightly. The K2 supplanted the M16A1 assault rifle for the Republic of Korea Armed Forces since its adoption in 1984.

Development
Although Daewoo Precision Industries K1 submachine gun entered service 3 years before the K2, the development of the K2 assault rifle started many years earlier. Because the produce of the M16A1 (Colt Model 603K) under the license will eventually expire and Colt did not wish to continue the license, president Park Chung-hee, who strongly believed in self-reliance of national defense, ordered the engineers to develop the standard firearm for the Republic of Korea Armed Forces thinking that a firearm is the basic and the base of the defense industry. The engineers of the Agency for Defense Development began the project named XB rifle in 1972, and finished the project in 1983. Colt once sued for the design of the K2 assault rifle suspecting the design was copied from M16. Colt lost the case, and Daewoo Precision Industries does not pay license fee for manufacturing the K2.

Design


A total of 6 kinds of prototypes were made during the development. Of the 6 designs, the XB6 was selected. Some parts of the XB6 resembled FN FNC such as suppressor and sight. Further development of the XB6 evolved into the XB7 and finally the XB7C, also known as the XK2. The K2 uses a tough polymer for the forearm, pistol-grip and side-foldable buttstock. Externally similar in appearance to the AR18, its bolt carrier group is derived from the American M16 rifle, but only some of the parts are interchangeable. The gas operating system is derived from the AK-47, and is consequently different from that of the M16. The K2 uses the same magazine as the M16; the bolt and bolt carrier does not interchange with the M16. The fire control system is derived from that of the M16 but few parts interchange without modification. The barrel rifling has 6 grooves, 1-in-7.3 right hand twist. The K2 has 4 kinds of selective firing mechanism: safe, semi-auto, 3-round burst, and automatic.

The K2 can be equipped with the Daewoo Precision Industries K201, an undercarried 40x46mm single shot grenade launcher patterned after the American M203. The Republic of Korea Armed Forces originally planned to replace the entire K2 with new S&T Daewoo K11 dual-barrel air-burst weapon. However, due to extremely high cost and skepticism on firepower of 20mm grenade led to the decision to provide 2 K11s to each squad, keeping 2 grenadiers as well. The current 9-infantry squad of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces is armed with 2 K2 rifles, 2 K2 rifles with K201 grenade launcher, 2 K11 DAWs, 1 K3 light machine gun, and the rest with either K1 or K2.

K1 submachine gun and K2 rifle
While the K1/K1A submachine gun is commonly regarded as a carbine version of the K2, the K1 a separate submachine gun altogether, as:
 * The K1 was developed earlier than the K2.
 * The K1 uses direct impingement gas system, while the K2 uses a long stroke gas piston system.
 * The K1 has a 1-in-12 rifling twist for KM193 (5.56 mm) rounds, while the K2 has a 1-in-7.3 rifling twist for both the KM193 (5.56 mm) rounds and the K100 (5.56 mm) green tip, full metal jacket rounds.
 * The K1 was originally developed as a sub-machine gun, not as an assault carbine.

Variants

 * XB: At least 6 versions (XB1 to XB6) of prototype were made.
 * XB6: Selected design among the prototype.
 * XB7: Further development of the XB6.
 * XB7C: Final experimental prototype. Also known as XK2.
 * K2: Mass-produced variant.
 * AR-100: Semi-automatic 5.56x45mm NATO version for civilian market.
 * DR-200: Semi-automatic .223 Remington version for civilian market.
 * DR-300: Semi-automatic 7.62x39mm version for civilian market.
 * K2C: Carbine version of K2 rifle with RAS and major modification. M4-type buttstock was added, the barrel has been reduced to 310 mm, and uses K11 suppressor.

Users

 * 🇧🇩 Bangladesh: Used by Special Warfare Diving And Salvage operators.
 * 🇪🇨 Ecuador
 * 🇫🇯 Fiji: Used by Republic of Fiji Military Forces, exact numbers unknown.
 * 🇮🇩 Indonesia: 210 K2 rifles purchased in 2008.
 * Republic of Korea: Serving as primary issued rifle to ROK forces. Used extensively in the Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraq War.
 * 🇱🇧 Lebanon
 * 🇲🇼 Malawi: Received 1,100 K2 and 1,000 K2C in 2012.
 * 🇲🇽 Mexico
 * 🇳🇬 Nigeria: First customer of K2. Purchased 3,000 in 1983, and another batch in 1996. Additional 30,000 rifles were sold in 2006.
 * 🇵🇪 Peru: Used by the Infantería de Marina del Perú (Peruvian Naval Infantry).
 * 🇵🇭 Philippines
 * 🇸🇳 Senegal: Purchased 100 K2 rifles in 2003.
 * 🇿🇦 South Africa

Related development

 * AK-47
 * FN FNC
 * M16 rifle
 * Armalite AR-18
 * Daewoo Precision Industries K1
 * S&T Daewoo XK8

Future replacement

 * S&T Daewoo K11