Hanwha Aerospace showcases K9 production plant to U.S. Army delegation

Hanwha Aerospace said on Wednesday that a U.S. Army delegation visited its Changwon plant after the U.S. Army selected the company’s K9-based system for an artillery prototype program.

Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology Brent Ingraham led a delegation during a visit to the facility — the main production site for the K9 family of self-propelled howitzers — on Aug. 26, the Korean defense company said.

During the visit, the delegation reviewed Hanwha Aerospace’s key land weapons systems, including the K9 self-propelled howitzer, the Chunmoo multiple rocket launcher system and long-range surface-to-air missile systems.

The visit came days after the U.S. Army selected Hanwha Defense USA to provide K9MH prototypes, which are wheeled variants of the K9 guns. Washington aims to see whether the highly mobile 155 mm artillery system can augment the towed M777 howitzers that are currently in wide-scale use by U.S. forces.

The company highlighted Hanwha Defense USA’s integration and test facility in Opelika, Alabama, as a key part of its emerging U.S. artillery manufacturing network. Hanwha said that it is evaluating further expansion as production scales up to meet U.S. Army requirements.

Yonhap