On 3 September the Australian Department of Defence announced that Hanwha Defence Australia (HDA) under its Protected Mobile Fires Project will provide 30 K9 Thunder self-propelled howitzers and 15 K10 armoured ammunition resupply vehicles.
With this Government announcement, work will commence immediately to implement a plan for the building of facilities and skilling of the local Geelong based workforce.
For the Land 8116 program, Hanwha has developed the Huntsman Family of Vehicles comprising the K9 Self- Propelled Howitzer (SPH) and the K10 Armoured Ammunition Resupply Vehicle (AARV) to deliver a complete mission system. The K9 is a 155 mm/52 calibre with a maximum range of 30 km with conventional and 40 km with RAP rocket-assisted projectiles. It uses an automatic loading system within the vehicle as well as for replenishing from the resupply vehicle. Its navigation/positioning and Kongsberg digital fire control system allow for firing within 60 seconds from receiving a call for fire when deploying from movement or 30 seconds when already in place. These will be designated as the AS9 SPH and the AS10 AARV respectively for the Australian market. The Huntsman SPH is a 50 tonne, 52 calibres, 155mm platform capable of taking advantage of current and emerging 155mm munitions technologies. It has a crew of four or five depending on the configuration with an ammunition capacity of up to 48 rounds and accompanying modular charge systems. The Kongsberg ODIN Fire Control System which sits within the broader Kongsberg Integrated Combat System allows passage of information to the Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System (AFATDS) forming the core of the C4I system. The AS10 AARV is a largely robotised system built on the same chassis as the K9. It holds 104 rounds of 155mm ammunition and is used to provide ammunition resupply under armour and forward to the Artillery unit.
Australia’s system is named Huntsmen and will be built in Hanwha’s Geelong Australia facility.
HDA is part of the larger Hanwha Group, a Korean Global Fortune 500 company. HDA was established in late 2019 and is actively engaged in various programs across the Domains. It is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria with its manufacturing centre to be based in the Greater Geelong Area.
The system is already in service with Finland, Norway, Estonia, India, and Turkey.
