Samsung is not the biggest company in the world, but certainly has the most diverse portfolio in the market. Most tech enthusiasts see it as a brand that built its popular Galaxy smartphone line-up by copying Apple. For many, it is a company that failed to challenge Apple in tablet and laptop market. However, there’s a peculiar side to this story, as Samsung has little known products that Apple can’t think of building in wildest of its dreams. And no, I’m not talking about those weird vacuum cleaners and stupid smart belts.
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Military Cannon K9 Thunder
Apple’s Bionic A12 chip based on the cutting-edge 7 nm fabrication process may beat the Galaxy phones at certain tasks. But, I can’t think of any Apple product that can take on Samsung’s K9 Thunder and its 155 mm howitzer gun. This self-propelled armored vehicle weighs in at 49 tons and can decimate targets with its 52-caliber ammunition. Costing almost 4 million dollars per unit, this war machine is developed by Samsung’s subsidiary Techwin for the South Korean armed forces. Based on its performance in field trials, Norway, Finland, Turkey, and India have placed orders for the K9 Thunder. In fact, Indian Army’s newly introduced K9 VAJRA-T is a variant of Samsung’s K9 Thunder. South Koreans in partnership with Larsen and Toubro have won a $800 million contract to supply self-propelled howitzers to the Indian forces. The first 10 units of K9 Thunder landed in India last month and rest of the 90 will be manufactured in India. Indian Army was in a dire need of upgrade because existing artillery guns, towed by other vehicles, have been slowing down India’s main battle tank the Russian T90 in battle formations. With its top speed of 67 km per hour, the K9 can easily keep up with the T90 that maxes out at 60 km per hour. Samsung and Apple fanboys are involved in Internet flame wars all the time. However, if these companies ever get into a real fight, I know which brand to side with.
Killer Robot SGR-A1
While its South Korean compatriot LG is busy making cute robots for home, Samsung has built a mean machine for its border with the hostile regime of North Korea. Samsung’s SGR-A1 is a robot soldier with surveillance, tracking, and attack capabilities. It uses multiple cameras including Infrared to detect and track the targets. It can also record surveillance footage for up to 60 days. The SGR-A1 can be mounted with various weapons and can make use of the laser rangefinder and Infrared light to lock onto targets. The SGR-A1 is 1.2-metre tall and weighs in at 117 kilograms. It uses voice recognition tech to identify approaching individuals. In standard configuration, it comes equipped with Daewoo’s K3 machine gun that uses NATO 5.56 mm ammo. The permission to engage in combat comes remotely from a human operator. But the machine also has an autonomous system, which stirred a controversy due to the obvious comparisons with sci-fi movie Terminator. The only difference is that Samsung’s killer robot doesn’t look cool.
Burj Khalifa
The gem of Dubai’s skyline, the Burj Khalifa is the tallest building on the planet. The mega-structure has a height of 829.8 metre including the antenna on the top. With over 160 floors, this building holds many more records such as the world’s highest restaurant, world’s highest nightclub, and highest elevator installation. Dubai’s government wanted something grand for the city, and American architect Adrian Smith delivered on that front. Known for his work on Trump Tower, Adrian used the Great Mosque of Samarra as a design inspiration. And the company that turned his blueprint into a structure was none other Samsung’s construction arm. Samsung’s engineering and construction division has also built other popular skyscrapers including the Petronas Towers in Malaysia. Next time you snap a picture of Burj Khalifa with your iPhone, keep in mind that it is made by Samsung.
Huge Cargo Ships
Cargo ships handle majority of International trade. These freight vessels move hundreds of millions of containers across the globe. Be it a perfume, medicine, or even a car, if it is imported, there’s a good chance it travelled in one of these ships. At this point, you shouldn’t be surprised by any fact about Samsung. So yes, the South Korean conglomerate is one of the largest ship builders in the world. It operates the world’s most efficient shipyard Goeje located in South Korea. The shipyard has three dry and five floating docks. The facility churns out transportation ships, shuttle tankers, and even drilling units for various industries. Samsung has also established ship manufacturing facilities in other countries including China. It won’t be a long stretch to assume that Samsung manufactured ships are an essential part of the global trade.
