S. Korea to supply 30 units of K-9 howitzer to Australia under 930 billion-won deal

By Kang Yoon-seung

SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Yonhap) -- Australia has signed a contract to acquire 30 units of the K-9 Thunder self-propelled howitzer from South Korea, its manufacturer said Monday.

The Australian Army will also acquire 15 units of K-10 armored ammunition resupply vehicles under the deal signed between the nation's Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) and Hanwha Defense Australia, according to Hanwha Defense, based in Seoul.

The contract is worth 930 billion won (US$788 million), an industry source said.

Australia is the seventh partner to introduce the South Korea-made howitzer. South Korea has exported around 600 units of the 155-millimeter K-9 artillery guns to Turkey, Poland, India, Norway, Finland and Estonia.

The announcement came more than a year after Hanwha was named the sole preferred bidder for an Australian artillery gun procurement project.

South Korea, meanwhile, has been reportedly in talks with Egypt as well to export the howitzer there, raising the prospects for the artillery system's first entry into the Middle Eastern and African market as well.

Ahead of the signing ceremony held in Canberra on the occasion of President Moon Jae-in's visit there, South Korea's Defense Program Acquisition Administration (DAPA) and the CASG inked a memorandum of understanding to expand ties in the arms procurement sector.

"Through the MOU and the K-9 howitzer export deal, both countries also agreed to promote the collaboration of different weapon systems based on the interoperability of the howitzers," DAPA Chief Kang Eun-ho said in a statement.

colin@yna.co.kr
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