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Scott Morrison (center), Australian prime minister, and Hanwha Defense CEO Son Jae-il (second from right) attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Hanwha's K9 howitzer production facility in Geelong, Victoria
South Korea’s Hanwha Defense Co., the world’s top self-propelled howitzer producer, has kicked off the construction of its first oversea facility in Australia to manufacture artillery systems.The groundbreaking ceremony on April 8 came after Hanwha was awarded a contract worth around $1 billion in December 2021 to supply its K9 self-propelled howitzers and armored ammunition resupply vehicles to the Australian Army by 2027.The facility, dubbed H-ACE, will be completed by 2024 to become the first foreign production base for a South Korean defense company as well. H-ACE will be built on the site of 150,000 square meters near Avalon Airport, composed of a 32,000-square-meter factory, a performance test center, a shooting range and a R&D center.Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, South Korea's Defense Acquisition Minister Kang Eun Ho and Hanwha Defense CEO Son Jae-il attended the groundbreaking ceremony held in the city of Geelong, Victoria.Under the contract, Hanwha is to supply 30 howitzers, similar to tanks and 15 ammunition resupply vehicles. In Australia, they will be branded as the AS9 Huntsman and 15 AS10 armored resupply vehicles.The deal marked Hanwha's first sale of the self-propelled artillery system and Australia's first major defense systems purchase from an Asian contractor.
The AS9 Huntsman, the Australian version of the K9 self-propelled howitzer (Courtesy of Hanwha Defense)Apart from the howitzer contract, Hanwha is vying for Australia’s $4.6 billion project to buy new infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs). Hanwha's Redback armored vehicles are competing with Germany's Rheinmetall KF-41 Lynx to win the order, for which Australia is slated to choose the winner this year. Redback is a fifth-generation IFV, developed in cooperation with Israel, Australia and Canada. It features state-of-the-art technologies such as tech sensor systems, which allow the crew to see through the vehicle’s armor.
Australian soldiers stand with Hanwha's Redback IFV (left) and Rheinmetall's Lynx KF-41 IFV (Courtesy of Australia's Department of Defence)Hanwha and Rheinmetall are the two shortlisted candidates for the IFV supply. Their military vehicles are being tested by the Australian government as part of a two-year risk mitigation activity.By Ik-hwan Kimlovepen@hankyung.comYeonhee Kim edited this article