Hyundai Rotem closer to supplying armored vehicles to Peru

Hyundai Rotem Co., a South Korean defense equipment and locomotive maker, has moved a step closer to exporting its wheeled armored vehicles, core to the Korean army’s maneuver warfare system, for the first time.

According to the subsidiary of Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor Co. on Thursday, Fábrica de Armas y Municiones del Ejército (FAME SAC) has picked the STX Corp.-Hyundai Rotem consortium as a preferred bidder for a deal to supply wheeled armored vehicles to the Peruvian Army.

FAME is Peru's state-owned company manufacturing weapons and ammunition under the country's Ministry of Defense.

Once Hyundai Rotem signs a binding contract with FAME later this month, the Korean company will export an initial batch of 30 of its K808 wheeled armored vehicles, worth about $60 million, to Peru and then up to 120 units later.

It would mark Hyundai Rotem’s first overseas exports of its wheeled armored vehicles, as well as Korea’s first armored vehicle sales to Latin America.

The Korean weapon systems maker expects the contract to pave the way for more similar deals from the region where demand for armored vehicles is on the rise in line with growing terrorist attack risks and threats to public safety.  

KOREA’S KEY ARMY WEAPON SYSTEM

The K808 is an eight-wheeled infantry transport vehicle that replaces the K511A1, also known as the Army Truck, used by the Korean Army.

Hyundai Rotem said its armored vehicles are fit for the rugged terrain and challenging pathways of Peru, known as the Roof of South America.

As the K808 is a wheeled armored vehicle, it has eight wheels that move independently and is thus suitable for climbing hills and crossing rough terrain.

The K808 can traverse obstacles up to 40 centimeters high and navigate trenches up to 1.5 meters deep, with a water jet that enables it to easily cross shallow rivers, according to the company.

Its tactical tires are equipped with an automatic air pressure adjustment device called a CTIS.

In April last year, the Peruvian defense minister approved a related budget to purchase armored vehicles.

Under the latest deal, Hyundai Rotem has also been given the rights to supply the Peruvian Army with other types of maneuvering system vehicles ranging from four and six-wheeled armored vehicles to light and heavy tactical vehicles.

STX will be in charge of delivering Hyundai Rotem-made armored vehicles to Peru.

With the latest deal, Hyundai Rotem also hopes to accelerate inroads into the overseas defense system market.

In December 2022, it delivered 10 units of its K2 Black Panther, a next-generation battle tank, to Poland, which was part of its $3.4 billion deal to export 180 K2 tanks to the country, Korea’s first export of such battle tanks.

Three months earlier, it also agreed on a strategic partnership with Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace AS, Norway’s largest defense supplier, to jointly develop next-generation battle tanks.

In Peru, another Korean company landed the biggest-ever defense deal for a Korean company in Latin America last month.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries won a contract worth 600 billion won ($436 million) to build four warships for the Peruvian Navy jointly with Peru’s state-owned shipbuilder SIMA Peru S.A.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com

Sookyung Seo edited this article.