Key Points and Summary – Hyundai Rotem’s K3 “stealth” main battle tank aims to push armor into the drone-saturated, sensor-rich battlefield of the 2030s.
-A hydrogen powerplant, blended hull-turret shaping, RAM coatings, and thermal management target low radar, acoustic, and IR signatures.
K3 Tank from South Korea National Security Journal Photo.
K3 Full Scale Model National Security Journal Photo.
-An AI-enabled fire-control suite reportedly engages out to five miles with a 130mm smoothbore, while an unmanned turret and remote weapon station keep a three-person crew under armor—vital against top-attack threats seen in Ukraine.
-Built for manned-unmanned teaming, the K3 could dispatch ground and aerial drones for reconnaissance, ammo resupply, or strikes. Lighter weight and higher mobility aim to solve classic tank deployability limits.
–National Security Journal visited the K3 Tank booth during a recent arms show in Poland and took several pictures of the model of this new tank. We have presented these photos in this article.
The K3 Stealth Tank Is Coming
A South Korean defense firm is pioneering a first-of-its-kind hydrogen-powered “stealth” Main Battle Tank intended to propel tank warfare into the next decades with greater off-road mobility, improved fuel efficiency, and reduced heat and acoustic signatures.
Perhaps most significantly, the so-called Hyundai Rotem K3 incorporates an AI-enabled fire control system capable of destroying targets out to 5 miles, according to an interesting essay on the tank by NextGenDefense.
K3 Stealth Tank Explained
The external configuration appears quite different from current tanks, engineered with a smoother, blended turret-chassis configuration that seems less “jagged” and more horizontal than those of existing tanks.
Perhaps the most noticeable features on the tank are the apparent absence of protruding, angled structures likely to generate a return rendering or signal to radar detection from adversaries.
The flattened, blended chassis resembles elements of the ultra-stealthy B-21.
K3 Detailed Model View Image by National Security Journal.
The design includes a few antennas, which are rounded and potentially “stealthier” than the many protruding edges found on modern tanks.
There are also additional stealth properties likely woven into the platform that are not detectable by an observer’s eye.
This would include materials such as rubbery radar-absorbent materials, quieting technologies, and thermal management methods.
Perhaps emerging technologies can reduce a tank’s heat signature, making it much less detectable by infrared sensors.
A hydrogen-powered propulsion system will, of course, generate much less “heat” than a standard engine, and the engine is also likely much quieter.
K3 Weapons
The tank will be armed with a 130mm smoothbore gun, operate with an unmanned turret, and carry anti-tank guided missiles.
Not surprisingly, the tank is equipped with an under-armor remote weapons station that can integrate smaller arms, including crew-served 50-Cal. Weapons, up to 30mm or smaller, according to NextGenDefense.
K3 Stealth Tank from South Korea. Image Credit: Industry Handout.
Available renderings of the tank also reveal enhanced survivability features, as an unmanned turret and remote weapons station allow the entire 3-person crew to remain under armor during combat.
There is no “ring” for a .50-cal gunner on top of the tank; instead, the tank is completely armored.
This is highly significant, given that tanks in Ukraine are extremely vulnerable to “top-down” attacks.
The front and sides of modern tanks are heavily armored, whereas the turret on most current tanks includes a slip-ring gunner’s post, which increases the tank’s vulnerability to incoming fire from above.
Future of Tanks
There are many potential paradigm-changing elements to the K3, depending upon the effectiveness of its stealth properties and the quality of its AI-enabled command and control, fire control, sensor integration, and networking.
An AI-capable system would greatly expedite sensor data processing and analytics, enabling the platform to detect, verify, and destroy enemy targets faster and more efficiently.
AI-enabled command and control in the K3 will also enable manned-unmanned teaming, as forward ground and air drones can deliver ammunition, conduct high-speed reconnaissance, and even attack targets when directed by a human.
The new tank will need to be faster and more mobile than most modern tanks, because while heavy armor remains critical to success in taking and holding ground in war, existing tanks often have mobility and deployability issues.
They are often not fast enough to keep up with advancing and maneuvering dismounted soldiers and, at times, too heavy to cross bridges or to transit through narrower passageways.
K3 Tank: A Game Changer?
Nonetheless, the engineering of a new generation tank makes tactical sense for several reasons, the first of which is what Ukraine has shown in the realm of heavy armor and traditional combined arms.
Despite the massive success of dismounted anti-armor weapons in the war in Ukraine, heavy armor and tanks in particular continue to prove effective at closing with an enemy mechanized formation to take and “hold” ground.
About the Author: Kris Osborn
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Master’s Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
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Shitdoyle
October 28, 2025 at 8:41 am
Can the Rotem K-3 withstand a glide bomb.(russkie KAB bomb.)
I gather NOT.