Hanwha Defense to supply howitzers to Australia in $788 mn deal

South Korea’s Hanwha Defense Co. inked a $788 million deal to supply K9 self-propelled howitzers to Australia, marking its first sale of the self-propelled artillery system to a member country of an intelligence alliance with the US.

Hanwha, the world’s top self-propelled howitzer producer, on Dec. 13 signed the contract with Australia’s Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group to sell 30 units of the self-propelled howitzers, which will be branded as the AS9 Huntsman in the country, and 15 AS10 armored resupply vehicles, the company announced.

The deal was known to be worth around 930 billion won ($788 million), the largest export contract for the artillery system, according to industry sources in South Korea.

TO PRODUCE IN AUSTRALIA

This is the first major defense acquisition by Australia from an Asian defense contractor, Hanwha said. The company will produce the howitzers at a new plant to be built in Geelong, a city southwest of Melbourne, becoming the first South Korean defense contractor that has an overseas production facility.

Hanwha is set to start the construction of the factory in the second quarter of 2022 with a goal to begin production of the AS9 Huntsman in the fourth quarter of 2024.

“We will be working closely with our Australian industry partners to ensure that we deliver on our promise to establish sovereign capability here in Australia,” said Hanwha’s President and CEO Son Jae-il. “Hanwha’s Australian facility will also become a critical and important secondary line of supply back to South Korea.”

Australian companies involved with Hanwha on local manufacture and support of the new Howitzers include Kongsberg Defence Australia, ElmTek, Penske Australia, HIFraser, CBG Systems, TAE Aerospace, Bisalloy Steels, Thales Australia, Sigma Bravo and Elphinstone Pty Ltd, according to Hanwha.

In September 2020, Hanwha was named the preferred supplier of howitzers and associated support equipment to Australia, signaling the superiority of South Korean weaponry against global rivals.

Australia is an important market for the company as it is one of the Five Eyes, an intelligence alliance made up of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the US and the UK.

TARGETS MORE EXPORTS

Australia became the seventh country to introduce the South Korea-produced howitzer. South Korea has exported a total of 600 units of the self-propelled artillery guns to Turkey, Poland, India, Finland, Norway and Estonia.

With the latest deal, Hanwha aims to win a deal to sell the howitzer to Egypt, as the country has been in talks with the company.

Developed jointly with South Korea's Agency for Defense Development in 1998, the 155-mm K9 offers one of the world’s highest levels of performance with a maximum range of 40 km and a maximum speed of 67 km per hour. It can fire within 30 seconds from a stationary position and within 60 seconds on the move. The K9 is capable of firing at a burst rate of three rounds in fewer than 15 seconds and a total of 18 rounds continuously for three minutes.

Write to Jeong Min Nam at peux@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.