Footages of the K9MH firing in a fully automated environment.
It appears to have been conducted under various firing angles and modes, as well as conditions involving the application of several modular artillery charges.
A historic decision was made while I was on long vacation. Is this the first victory for the K9MH, developed as a lesson from Hanwha's failure in the UK artillery bid? The U.S. Army announced an agreement with Hanwha Defense USA, Arlington, Virginia, for the development of prototypes for the MTC program.
The selection criteria included performance, maturity, ammunition compatibility, and local production capabilities, and etc.
Six K9MH units will be evaluated in advance for three to four years.
● The competitors were Elbit Systems SIGMA, GDELS(GDLS)-KNDS-Leonardo Donar, Rheinmetall RCH155, BAE Archer, and KNDS Caesar.
● Hanwha and the U.S. Army have already signed a contract to utilize the Pine Bluff Arsenal site in Arkansas for the construction of a huge ammunition factory, as I previously posted.
The production of high-energy materials and propellants is a key focus.
● At the same time, Hanwha pursued the construction of K9 facilities in Opelika, Alabama. Opelika serves as a base for Hanwha Defense USA and offers the geographical advantage of being close to Fort Benning, a key U.S. Army base.
●While it is true that the K9A1 has been mass-produced and is currently in production, the K9A2, which shares technology with the K9MH, is also scheduled to enter mass production later.
Furthermore, the ability to rapidly and integrally operate platform and ammunition production facilities within the United States was a key factor in the U.S. Army's selection of HDUSA.
It is a typical low-risk, high-return pattern since Hanwha literally dominated global SPH market.
● At this rate, HDUSA will supply a total of about 500 systems, and the scale could become even larger if logistics support systems are included.
● With this, 13 countries have become users of the K9 family. These are South Korea, Turkey, Poland, Finland, Estonia, India, Norway, Australia, Egypt, Romania, Vietnam, Spain, and the United States.
● India, Egypt, Vietnam, and Spain, which have plans to purchase or acquire additional tracked K9s, as well as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which are currently negotiating with Hanwha, may have their plans slightly modified due to the news of the US Army's selection of the K9MH. Well, who knows.
However, keep in mind that this is not the U.S. Army's final selection. Hanwha's K9MH was merely selected as the prototype for development.
As I have always emphasized, for any weapon program, while the performance of the platform, ammunition, missiles, and sensors are important, consistent demand, production capacity, political factors, corporate investment commitment, risk management, and local cooperation are even more critical.
The K9A2 failed to win the British artillery bid, and it is said that Hanwha Aerospace developed the K9MH based on that lesson and K9A2 technology.
Contrary to my expectations, it seems like this cute and adorable K9MH will be playing in a very large field.
Frankly, I was expecting the K9A2 and K9A3 to perform better than the K9MH first.
Anyway, not only this, Hanwha also began the joint development of the AReS long-range missile system with Northrop Grumman.
Also, Hanwha Ocean and Hyundai Heavy Industries are currently conducting extensive programs with the U.S. government and the U.S. Navy, we look forward to substantial and realistic cooperation on weapon systems between the two countries in the future.
Given that the U.S. and S.Korea possess massive production capabilities, fixed demand, and future demand for combat platforms, ammunition, missiles, and sensors, they are attractive markets for corporates, the military, and the government in terms of market forecasting, growth, and risk management.
I received many messages and mails while I was on vacation, and I thank you for your concern.
In particular, there were some inquiries regarding this news.