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The K-9 self-propelled artillery developed with domestic technology is on the move. Provided by Hanwha Defense
In January, Hanwha Defense (Hanwha) CEO Lee Seong-soo flew to the city of Jeelong, about 80 km southwest of Melbourne, Australia. Representative Lee expressed his extraordinary interest in the Geelong region by reaching out to senior local officials, including Deputy Mayor Kylie Grazer. What is the story of a representative of a large national defense company visiting a small town with a population of 200,000 on the other side of the world?
Aim for the Australian Prime Minister’s General Election Promise
In 1925, the American automobile company Ford opened a factory in Geelong. For the next 90 years, Geelong reigned as the center of the Australian automotive industry. Ford, which failed to overcome management difficulties, withdrew from Geelong entirely in 2016. Discontent among Geelong citizens who lost their jobs on the solstice grew, and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a ‘plan to attract factories of self-propelled artillery ‘of foreign companies in May last year as a promise for the general elections. As part of the Australian Army’s modernization plan, it would have a self-propelled artillery production plant in Geelong.
It was an opportunity not to return to Korea, which was looking for the opportunity to export the Korean K-9 self-propelled artillery to Australia. At the same time, it was an opportunity to come back in about 10 years. In 2010, Hanwha outbid the export of self-propelled artillery, but had to go out of business after two years due to budgetary problems from the Australian government. Hanwha increased contact with local officials in Geelong and investigated ways to create local jobs. This is why CEO Seong-soo Lee had to emphasize the excellence of Korean-made ground weapons systems, such as K-9 self-propelled weapons, flying to Geelong.
After persistently knocking on the doors of Geelong and the Australian military authorities, Hanwha finally got “OK”. The Australian Ministry of Defense announced on the 3rd that it had selected the K-9 SPG as the sole preferred supplier of the ‘Land 8116 SPG Procurement Project’, one of the Army’s modernization projects. A formal contract is expected to be signed around next year, when the evaluation of commercial proposals and price negotiations are expected to finalize. The Australian government has budgeted around 1 trillion won for this project, which will supply 30 K-9 self-propelled guns and 15 K-10 ammunition carriers. It means that the K-9 self-propelled artillery took over the empty place where Ford left off.
The reason Korea was chosen over even Germany, which is a producer of luxury self-propelled weapons, is judged to be because the performance of the K-9 has been extensively tested. At the time of the tender for the self-propelled artillery project in 2010, Australia offered tender opportunities to several countries, including Korea. This time, from the start, only Korea was selected as the preferred negotiator. A Hanwha official said: “10 years ago, the export performance of K-9 was ‘zero’, but now there are more than 600 in each country.”
Hanwha’s defense representative Lee Seong-soo (third from left), who visited Australia’s Geelong city in January, is taking a commemorative photo with city officials such as Haekai-Lee Greigebeck (third from right ), Deputy Mayor of Geelong City. Provided by Hanwha Defense
Is the island country of Australia the flag of ‘containment of China’?
The K-9 self-propelled artillery is a self-propelled artillery developed by Hanwha and the Defense Science Research Institute (ADD) with national technology in 1998. At a distance of 40 km, it can fire up to 6 rounds per minute. In the world self-propelled weapons export market 2000-2017, K-9 self-propelled weapons ranked first with a 48% share.
Starting with Turkey in 2001, more than 600 K-9s were exported to Poland, India, Finland, Norway and Estonia. Mainly non-Western countries, this is the first time the United States has exported to security allies. It has opened the possibility of exporting to other western countries, such as the United Kingdom, which frequently participates in combined operations with the United States.
On Island Nara, Australia does not have a direct contact area. However, the decision to import K-9 is also aimed at containment in China. China has demonstrated its ambition to enter the South China Sea in recent years. Australia’s security policy has recently been inclined to prevent China from entering the sea in association with the United States.
On the 4th, Professor Park Jae-jeok, an international regional university professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, said on the 4th: “Australia’s thoughts that China might not even think that China could defeat them are changing.” “I intend to increase it,” he explained.
Australia is a key member of the Quad Bloc, an alliance of four countries (US, Japan, Australia, India) whose goal is to build a siege on China. Australia also conducted a large-scale joint drill with the United States and Japan in the waters around southern China and Guam in July.
Youngbin jo reporter [email protected]
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