{"id":124598,"date":"2026-08-19T09:00:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T09:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/124598\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T09:00:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T09:00:10","slug":"hanwha-exports-k9-self-propelled-howitzers-to-the-u-s-army-rewriting-the-history-of-k-defense-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/124598\/","title":{"rendered":"Hanwha exports K9 self-propelled howitzers to the U.S. Army, rewriting the history of K-Defense Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. Army: “Hanwha to provide up to 18 self-propelled howitzers” Project worth 147.1 billion won… automated turret model Chairman Kim Seung-yeon’s philosophy of “business patriotism” underpins the effort <\/p>\n

\"A \uc0ac\uc9c4 \ud655\ub300 A K9 wheeled self-propelled howitzer (K9MH) is seen conducting firing tests at a test range of the Agency for Defense Development (ADD). [Hanwha Aerospace, Yonhap News Agency] <\/p>\n

Hanwha has achieved a milestone by becoming the first Korean weapons system maker to export self-propelled howitzers to the United States, the world’s largest defense market. The achievement is drawing attention to whether K-Defense Industry can use this momentum to overcome long-standing barriers to entry in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) market and accelerate its global expansion.<\/p>\n

According to the U.S. Army on the 18th local time, it signed a contract with Hanwha Defense USA, the U.S. subsidiary of Hanwha Aerospace, for prototype development under the Mobile Tactical Cannon (MTC) program. The K9 wheeled self-propelled howitzer was selected as the sole candidate in the prototype development phase of the U.S. Army’s modernization project to introduce a next-generation self-propelled howitzer.<\/p>\n

Hanwha Aerospace also said in a press release on the 19th that it had signed a contract with the U.S. Army to supply six K9 wheeled self-propelled howitzer prototypes. With this deal, Hanwha Aerospace has entered the global market for wheeled self-propelled howitzers, following its success in the tracked segment.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Army said, “Through this competitively awarded contract, we will provide the Army with up to 18 howitzer systems over an implementation period of about four years for rapid prototyping, testing, and soldier operational experimentation.”<\/p>\n

The contract is valued at $100.3 million, or about 141.7 billion won, and the cumulative face value is $262.9 million, or about 371.5 billion won, the U.S. Army said.<\/p>\n

The agreement calls for the rapid delivery of six MTC prototype systems. It also includes an option to order 12 additional units, according to the U.S. Army. The eventual production scale is expected to reach about 500 units, with the project cost estimated at roughly 10 trillion won.<\/p>\n

\"Aerial \uc0ac\uc9c4 \ud655\ub300 Aerial view of the Pentagon, photographed on March 3, 2022. [Reuters, Yonhap News Agency] <\/p>\n

The K9MH that Hanwha Aerospace has contracted to supply is a model equipped with an automated turret. To introduce its next self-propelled howitzer, the U.S. Army began earlier this year asking major global defense companies to build new prototypes.<\/p>\n

Other bidders included Elbit America, which was joined by U.S. defense startup Anduril Industries and Oshkosh Defense, as well as Leonardo, Rheinmetall AG, and BAE Systems.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Army explained, “This contract was awarded after intensive market research and an extensive industry engagement process, including multiple vendor demonstrations conducted in the United States and overseas.”<\/p>\n

U.S. troops will use the Mobile Tactical Cannon platform in a series of operational experiments to evaluate performance, reliability, and maintainability under real combat conditions.<\/p>\n

In general, the U.S. military moves to a final production contract after going through this kind of customization phase, unless there are any major defects or disqualifying issues.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Army said, “The data and insights gained from these experiments will serve as direct evidence for senior leadership decisions on future deployment. If deployment is approved, the MTC will replace the M777 howitzer system in some units and significantly improve their lethality, mobility, reliability, and survivability on a modern, transparent battlefield.”<\/p>\n

The K9MH order is also the result of public-private cooperation, with the government and companies working as one team to enter the U.S. defense market. Hanwha said Hanwha Aerospace and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) regularly shared key issues from the early stages of the project through the final award and responded closely together. In particular, they reportedly continued rapid consultations and government-level support until the final stage before the contract was secured.<\/p>\n

Hanwha Aerospace plans to actively cooperate with the government, including DAPA, not only to ensure stable supply of the K9MH but also to make a full-scale entry into the U.S. defense market.<\/p>\n

\"Soldiers \uc0ac\uc9c4 \ud655\ub300 Soldiers from the 2nd Artillery Brigade’s Sun Fire Artillery Battalion conduct live-fire training with K9 self-propelled howitzer shells in a training area in Hwacheon County, Gangwon Province, on Jan. 2, checking their New Year’s firepower readiness. This image is not directly related to the article. [Yonhap News Agency] <\/p>\n

The contract also marks the culmination of nine years of efforts by Hanwha to enter the U.S. market, dating back to its participation in the Association of the United States Army (AUSA), the largest ground defense exhibition in North America, held in Washington, D.C. in 2017.<\/p>\n

Industry observers also say the deal was supported by Chairman Kim Seung-yeon’s philosophy of “business patriotism,” Hanwha Group’s global human network, and the meticulous strategy of Senior Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan.<\/p>\n

Kim has long prioritized defense technology, saying that defense is a core national industry that should not remain limited to the domestic market but must be transformed into a global export industry. Kim Dong-kwan also aligned with that vision, developing and executing a detailed business strategy for entering the U.S. defense market.<\/p>\n

Since the early 2020s, the U.S. Army has been pursuing the Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) program to develop a tracked self-propelled howitzer equipped with a new 58-caliber gun. However, as demand for long-range force deployment increased amid worsening international conditions, it shifted its focus toward securing a more mobile wheeled self-propelled howitzer.<\/p>\n

Kim Dong-kwan anticipated that demand for the U.S. military’s new self-propelled howitzer would rise and ordered thorough preparations. He especially noticed that the U.S. Army’s budget proposal released in March 2024 included a wheeled self-propelled howitzer project, and Hanwha Aerospace immediately began developing the K9MH in December of that year.<\/p>\n

Hanwha Aerospace is accelerating localization efforts, including signing a three-year lease in April for an idle factory in Opelika, Alabama. It also plans to invest in the local howitzer supply chain, strengthen the U.S. combat vehicle industrial base, and work as a long-term modernization partner for the U.S. Army.<\/p>\n

A Hanwha Aerospace official said, “This contract is a meaningful achievement that brings the K9 howitzer into the world’s largest defense market, and it is also highly significant in that a Korean weapons system will help defend the United States, writing a new chapter in the ROK-U.S. Alliance.” The official added, “We will build a stable production base in the United States through a differentiated localization strategy.”<\/p>\n

\nThis article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"U.S. Army: “Hanwha to provide up to 18 self-propelled howitzers” Project worth 147.1 billion won… automated turret model…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124599,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64386,64387,355,277,354,53658,36270,1235],"class_list":["post-124598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hanwha-aerospace","tag-business-patriotism","tag-defense-market","tag-hanwha","tag-hanwha-aerospace","tag-hanwha-group","tag-senior-vice-chairman","tag-weapons-systems","tag-yonhap-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}