Meet the Daewoo K11 20mm/5.56mm Dual-Caliber Airburst Weapon

Now, this is interesting. “The Korea Times” is reporting that some of the 350 South Korean troops deploying to Afghanistan (to protect 120 South Korean civilian reconstruction workers) will be armed with the Daewoo K11 semi-auto, mag-fed 20mm grenade launcher/select-fire 5.56×45mm NATO (5.56mm NATO) assault rifle a.k.a. airburst assault rifle a.k.a. “dual-caliber airburst weapon”.

Developed by South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development (ADD), the K11 is Korea’s version of the the U.S. Army’s failed ATK/HK XM29/OICW (Objective Individual Combat Weapon) airburst grenade launcher/5.56mm NATO assault rifle weapons concept, which was plagued with a myriad of problems, including, but not limited to, excessive size, excessive weight, and unreliable and dangerous (to the shooter) munitions with inadequate down-range lethality. The K11’s 20mm grenade launcher weapon has a capacity of 5+1, utilizing a 5-round magazine. The K-11’s 5.56mm assault rifle/carbine aspect utlizes a standard 30-round mag.

How the Korean soldiers are going to be able to handle the 12+-lb K11 any better than our guys could handle the behemoth ATK/HK XM29/OICW, is anyone’s guess–the K-11 isn’t any lighter, and sure doesn’t look any smaller–but that’s really not our problem. Hopefully, the Koreans can get the K11’s 20mm munitions to work more reliably and safely than we could get ours to work. God only knows how the Koreans are going to solve the 20mm (lack of) lethality problem. The U.S. Army went to a 25mm grenade round, and they were still having lethality issues, since the 25mm didn’t measure up to the 40mm (40×46mm) low-impulse/low-velocity grenade’s lethality. Even so, the ATK XM25 (dedicated) 25mm airburst grenade launcher seemed like a superior solution to a 20mm/5.56mm grenade launcher/assault rifle dual-purpose weapon, although it, too, went nowhere.

I would rather just have a good 40mm MGL (Multiple Grenade Launcher) at its disposal–or an MPS AA-12 shotgun with FRAG-12 fin-stabilized 12-Gauge grenade rounds, once the ammo/weapons package is perfected/fully-developed–but good luck to the Koreans.

We’ll try to follow the K11’s combat performance in theater, assuming the South Korean’s get the opportunity to live-test it against enemy forces.

It’s being reported that the South Korean warfighters will also be armed with Daewoo K1A/K2 assault rifles, K200 amphibious armored personnel carriers, some Doosan DST Barracuda 4×4 tactical armored vehicles (wheeled), four UH-60 transport helicopters, and, possibly, a RQ-101 UAS/UAV





[edit on 30-12-2009 by DaddyBare]

I see this as just a gimmick weapon that will not take off to the mass market but may be deemed suitable as a job specific rifle.

Originally posted by The_Archangel
I see this as just a gimmick weapon that will not take off to the mass market but may be deemed suitable as a job specific rifle.

The K11 is no gimmick...
The original XM29/OICW (Objective Individual Combat Weapon) was developed by the US Army proving grounds as a design exercise in future weapons technology...

As I say in my OP... That exercise failed and proved to be as much a danger to the shooter as it was to the targets.

To take a step back the XM29 was a direct off shoot of the XM307 Advanced Crew Served Weapon (ACSW) the M307 was developed as a replacement for the old M2 (Ma-duce) .50 cal. Again the Army spent millions on this program and thought to incorporate the 25 mm round into an individual weapons system. Thus was born the XM29.

Other projects that spun off this weapons platform were
XM1018 (HEAB Ammunition)
XM8 rifle (5.56 kinetic energy component)
XM25 (Uses low velocity 25 mm smart airburst munition)
XM109 (Uses 'high velocity' 25 mm 'dumb' version of smart munition)
XM307 ACSW (Uses 'high velocity' 25 mm smart airburst munition; autocannon)
XM312 (.50 BMG version of XM307)
Mk 47 (Mk 47 Mod 0) (40 mm automatic grenade launcher capable of using smart 40 mm airburst grenades)
Land Warrior
XM26 Lightweight Shotgun System (A lightweight shotgun attachment)
XM320 (40 mm grenade launcher)

None of them are secluded to make their way into mainstream American military use but this research may in time lead to some future replacement to the M4 as a main battle rifle…

reply to post by DaddyBare


This looks pretty darn deadly to me. The tests look good and if it holds up in field conditions this may be the wave of the future. Main drawback besides wieght would be the time necessary to determine range switch over the weapon for airburst. Afghanistan will prove or disprove it's value in combat. I have my doubts about it's use as an offensive weapon but on the defensive I'd say this thing would rock some skulls.
gotta hand it to the koreans, they're nearly as inventive as the Japanese.

Originally posted by Asktheanimals
reply to post by DaddyBare

 

This looks pretty darn deadly to me. The tests look good and if it holds up in field conditions this may be the wave of the future. Main drawback besides wieght would be the time necessary to determine range switch over the weapon for airburst. Afghanistan will prove or disprove it's value in combat. I have my doubts about it's use as an offensive weapon but on the defensive I'd say this thing would rock some skulls.

gotta hand it to the koreans, they're nearly as inventive as the Japanese.

I would suggest the first problem to surface is overheated batteries for the optics, and there seems to be no manual (iron) sights.