Army Concludes First Overseas Tank and Howitzer Drills in Qatar.

Doha: The Army announced on Tuesday that it has successfully concluded its inaugural overseas drills involving tank and howitzer units in Qatar. This milestone was achieved after the deployment of approximately 100 troops to a desert training ground in the Middle Eastern nation earlier this month. According to Yonhap News Agency, the exercises took place at Qatar's Al Qalayel training center and involved a two-week schedule of live-fire and maneuver drills. These drills featured four K2 tanks and four K9A1 self-propelled howitzers, which worked in conjunction with Qatar's German-made Leopard 2A7 tanks and Panzerhaubitze 2000 howitzers. The combined exercises focused on various combat scenarios to enhance interoperability between the two forces. The Army reported that the K2 tanks successfully demonstrated their live-fire capabilities by hitting targets located 5 kilometers away. This distance is notably beyond their maximum effective firing range of over 3 kilometers, achieving a hit rate of more than 80 pe rcent. Following the field training exercise, the Army showcased the capabilities of its K10 ammunition resupply vehicles in artillery shell resupplying operations for the K9 howitzers. This demonstration was attended by Qatari military and government officials, underlining the cooperation between the two nations. In recent months, South Korea has been working to strengthen defense industry ties with Qatar as part of its broader strategy to emerge as a leading global arms exporter. A significant step in this direction was the signing of a bilateral memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation in February.