Daewoo K-2, K1A1 and Daewoo DAR-21 Rifle

 At the start of the war, the Daewoo K-2 Assault Rifle was pretty much a ROK-only weapon; by 2000, however, an estimated 3000 of them had been issued to US troops in South Korea. Not as many K-1A1s were issued to US troops, but some were. A large number of K-1A1s that were built with the wrong measurements actually made it into the hands of the ROK Army, which caused a lot of problems for ROK armorers. The DAR-21 and DAR-21A1 do not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

For the most part, the K-2 was not seen outside of South Korea, except in a form modified for civilian use. As with the Twilight 2000 Story, a lot of K-1A1s without the proper measurements made into the hands of the ROK Army. While in the Twilight 2000 world, this was done because they needed a lot of weapons quickly; this was done in the Merc 2000 world primarily for budgetary reasons. Also for budgetary reasons, DAR-21 production was greatly delayed, with first issue to troops not occurring until nearly 2013.

This Daewoo K-2 Assault Rifle is the standard assault rifle of South Korea (though it has not entirely supplanted the M16A1). It borrows features from the M16, AK, and FAL, and looks very much like a Galil. Internally, the K2 is almost identical to the M-16, but also has some features of the AR-18. The extractor is an improvement over that of the M-16 and AR-18; it is longer and has a stronger spring, solving a problem with extraction which continues to plague the M-16 and AR-18 series. The three-round burst setting of the K-2 is unusual; if there is a stoppage for some reason or all three rounds do not fire, the next pull of the trigger (whether you have to clear a jam or not) will cause the weapon to continue where it left off, if it still set on three round burst. The magazines are the same as used in M-16-series weapons.

Daewoo K-2 Assault Rifle

 The construction of the K-2 Assault Rifle is largely from aircraft aluminum alloy, though the barrel and operating parts are of steel. The stock is solid and made from polymer, but is hinged and folds to the right. (The shape prevents it from getting in the way of the pistol grip and trigger.) Sights are similar to those of the M-16A2, but they also have tritium inserts for use at night.

The Daewoo K-1A1 Assault Rifle is a carbine variant of the K-2 assault rifle; despite the designation, production of the K-1A1 did not start until about 2 months after the start of production of the K-2, though it was designed concurrently with the K-2. Early production batches of the K-1A1 had a small problem; the production lines for the K-2 and K-1A1 were not quite in synch. This meant that parts of the two rifles that were supposed to be interchangeable often weren’t, because the measurements were not quite the same.

Daewoo K-2 Assault Rifle

Daewoo K-2 Assault Rifle

This was corrected a short time after production started, but every so often you will run into K-1A1 parts that cannot be used in a K-2. The K1A1 uses a collapsible instead of a folding stock; this stock is actually a modification of the stock of the M-3 Grease Gun submachinegun, but has a more ergonomic buttplate. The K-1A1 is also equipped with muzzle brake instead of the M-16A2-type flash suppressor of the K-2.

The K-2 (but not the K-1A1) was also produced in civilian/police versions for export, primarily to the US. The DR-100 (also known in the US as the MAX-1) was produced until 1994; with the enactment of the Assault Weapons Ban, it was changed into the DR-200 (also known as the MAX-2). The DR-100 has become available again with the sunset of the Assault Weapons Ban.

Daewoo K-1A1 Assault Rifle

Daewoo K-1A1 Assault Rifle

Daewoo DAR-21 Assault Rifle

The DR-100 is virtually identical to the standard K-2, but its stock is polymer and does not fold, has no bayonet lug, and is limited to semiautomatic fire. The DR-200 has a wooden thumbhole-type stock, no bayonet lug, no flash suppressor, and was usually sold with 10-round magazines. Also after 1994, the DR-300 was introduced, chambered for 7.62mm Kalashnikov and otherwise the same as the DR-200 in form.

The newest member of the K-2 family is the DAR-21; it is essentially a K-2 turned into a bullpup configuration. This allows the use of a longer barrel than either the K-1A1 or K-2, while allowing the DAR-21 to be only a little longer than the K-2 is with its stock folded. The top of the receiver has a MIL-STD-1913 rail for use with optics or accessories, but the DAR-21 also has folding backup
iron sights. The stock and most of the receiver are built mostly from high-strength polymer, while the rest of the receiver is aluminum alloy and the barrel and operating parts are of steel.

Daewoo DAR-21 Rifle

Daewoo DAR-21 Rifle

The Daewoo DAR-21 Assault Rifle uses the standard M-16A2-type flash suppressor. While the rifling twist of the K-2 and K-1A1 are designed for use with SS-109-type ammunition, the DAR-21 uses an intermediate rifling twist rate of 1:9, allowing the use of SS-109-type and M-193-type ammunition. A carbine version of the DAR-21 Assault Rifle is also under consideration for production; this version will have a shorter barrel, but otherwise be the same as the standard DAR-21. No firm plans have yet been announced for its production, however. (I have used the designation "DAR-21A1" below for this version, but the ROK Army has not yet announced what the designation of the carbine version would be if it were produced.) Fielding of the DAR-21 is not expected to be until 2009 at the earliest.