Hanwha Aerospace is ready to expand foreign market presence with armored vehicles

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Hanwha Aerospace is ready to expand foreign market presence with armored vehicles

Published: 21 Jun. 2023, 10:33 Updated: 21 Jun. 2023, 15:23

Head of Hanwha Aerospace Changwon plant and senior vice president of the company's land systems business Choi Dong-bin, left, poses for a photo in front of a K9 howitzer in Changwon, South Gyeongsang. [HANWHA AEROSPACE]

Hanwha Aerospace’s plant in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, is a key national facility that requires top-tier security clearance for access. The arms manufacturer’s key products, such as the K9 self-propelled howitzers, K10 ammunition resupply vehicles and Korean amphibious assault vehicles, are produced at the 170,000-square-meter (42-acre) complex.

A K9 for Poland, under final maintenance and assembly, was broken down into modules on a production line inside the establishment when the JoongAng Ilbo visited the site Thursday.

K9s are produced in the module-based assembly production that puts together some 2,800 modules and 20,000 parts. Some 80 percent of the howitzers’ parts are domestically produced.

Another howitzer previously sold to a different European country was on standby for depot maintenance, an in-depth checkup process that involves a full disassembly, inspection and reassembly from the artillery’s gun barrel to the wheel track.

Despite being the birthplace of 47-ton armored equipment, the establishment was as clean as a semiconductor plant. Indoor temperature is kept steady at 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) year-round.

“Even quality is possible under a pleasant environment,” Lee Kyung-hun, a production manager at the plant, said.

The howitzer welcomes any updates that can improve its quality.

A shock-absorbing damper part was included in the nose section when the headlights were frequently damaged operating on rough terrains. The design structure was modified to allow the power back, namely its engine and transmission, to be taken out in 10 minutes. It took mechanics hours previously for the same process.

Ground military equipment is often sold as derivatives to fit the operational environment of the buyer. The Polish government has reportedly requested the same model used by the Korean military, taking note of the weapon system’s completeness, despite the two countries’ climate and topographic differences.

Automation is the next agenda for Hanwha Aerospace.

The company is eyeing the U.S. market by enhancing its unmanned weapon systems lineup, according to Choi Dong-bin, head of Hanwha’s Changwon plant.

Hanwha Aerospace’s multipurpose unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) Arion-SMET — an acronym for autonomous and robotic systems for intelligent off-road navigation-small multipurpose equipment transport — was selected to participate in U.S. Army’s foreign comparative testing (FCT) program October.

Arion-SMET is the first Korean UGV to be a part of FCT, which aims to test and employ foreign technologies to fill existing capability caps while saving both time and money.

Hanwha Aerospace is also part of a consortium with Oshkosh Defense to design a replacement vehicle for M2 Bradley vehicles in the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle project worth around $45 billion.

The company will “increase the K9’s market presence in the global howitzer market and achieve outcomes in the unmanned equipment market on par with that of the howitzer market,” Choi said.

Korea’s defense industry is expanding in part due to such efforts and geopolitical reasons such as the war in Ukraine. Defense-related revenue stood at 16.3 trillion won ($12.7 billion) last year, up 56 percent from 2013.

BY LEE SOO-KI [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]