Korea unveils next-gen howitzer plans for defense exports

South Korea introduced plans for the development of next-generation self-propelled howitzers to its existing customers as the country aims to foster the defense industry, a new growth engine for Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) unveiled a roadmap for the K9A2 and the K9A3 – revamped models of the K9 locomotive artillery – over the next decade at a meeting for buyers of the self-propelled howitzer in Helsinki, industry sources in Seoul said on Thursday.

The K9A2 is capable of firing up to nine rounds per minute with a fully automated loading system including charges and fuse set, faster than the current six shots, while significantly improving crew survivability, according to the sources.

About 50 military and defense officials from six countries that bought the K9 howitzers, including Finland, Norway, Australia, Poland, Estonia and South Korea, gathered to discuss details and operational know-how of the artillery from Jan. 23-25. The US, the world’s top military spender, attended the meeting of the so-called K9 User Club as an observer.

K9 USER CLUB

The K9 buyers are likely to form a defense cooperation council by sharing military intelligence, which could increase South Korea’s arms exports, industry sources said.

“Like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) and AUKUS, the K9 User Club is setting up new standards,” said an official at the UK unit of Hanwha Aerospace Co., which produces the K9.

NATO is an intergovernmental military alliance of 31 member states – 29 European and two North American. The JEF is a UK-led multilateral framework for defense cooperation formed by 10 European countries, while AUKUS is a trilateral security partnership for the Indo-Pacific region between Australia, the UK and the US.

The K9 dominates the global locomotive artillery market. It is top among 16 models of 152 millimeters and 155 mm self-propelled howitzers in service worldwide with a market share of 36%, according to the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.

The South Korean model accounted for 45% of the 1,401 units of 155 mm self-propelled howitzers globally traded since 2010.

Hanwha, the world’s top self-propelled howitzer producer aims to further expand its market share with more investments in overseas countries. The company hopes to supply the K9A2 for the UK’s Mobile Fires Platform (MFP) program to procure a new 155 mm self-propelled artillery system.

“We also plan to create a spare parts supply center for the K9 self-propelled howitzer in Europe,” the company said.

Write to Dong-Hyun Kim at 3code@hankyung.com
 

Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.