THE Turkey and India opted out of the annual K9 User Club forum, a group of countries operating the 155 mm/52 caliber K9 self-propelled howitzer system, which is manufactured by South Korea’s Defense Prime Hanwha.
According to a statement from Hanwha, about 50 military representatives from six K9 user countries – Australia, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Poland and South Korea – attended the meeting, while the US attended the meeting as an observer.
The K9 artillery is in active service with seven countries, including Estonia, Finland, India, Norway, Poland, South Korea and Turkey, while Australia and Egypt will field the artillery systems in the coming years.
Although a businessman, Türkiye has been embroiled in disputes with Finland, which recently joined NATO, after Ankara opposed Helsinki’s application to join the NATO alliance in 2022, following Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine that year. Türkiye maintains close ties with Russia and was a key element in Russia’s now-terminated deal to allow Ukrainian grain exports under the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
The three-day meeting of the K9 User Club, which runs from January 23 to 25, also includes representatives from global defense companies, such as Millog from Finland. Kongsberg from Norway. HSW from Poland. Van Haltern from the Netherlands. and Soucy from Canada for discussions on industrial collaborations. The meeting takes place in Helsinki, Finland.
In hosting the event, Finland is using the K9 ‘Moukari’ artillery systems, which first entered service in 2018.
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In a briefing, South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) shared a development roadmap for the next-generation K9A2 and K9A3 variants over the next decade. The K9A2 will incorporate a fully automated turret, providing improved levels of automation, lethality, survivability and digitization, according to the manufacturer.
The K9A3 will feature extended range through the incorporation of a 58-caliber barrel, alongside the inclusion of further automation and AI capabilities.
Meanwhile, Hanwha Aerospace revealed a plan to establish a K9 spare parts center in Europe to provide K9 customer nations in the region with more efficient logistics support.
The K9 155mm howitzer has been a significant success in the global market, with around 1,800 units in service accounting for over 50% of the global market share of SPH artillery platforms, Hanwha claims. The howitzer can deliver long-range fire at ranges of over 40 kilometers.
K9 User Club was launched in April 2022 in Changwon with the aim of rotating hosting. The first meeting was hosted by South Korea, followed by the second event in Norway in 2023 and the third in Finland this year.
It is thought the K9 could be in the running for the UK’s Mobile Protected Firepower programme, which is intended to replace the British Army’s operational but aging AS90 155mm platforms.
However, the UK’s recent acquisitions of the Archer 155mm wheeled artillery system from Sweden, and the formation of an industrial group to pursue future UK sales, could signal a shift away from the British Army’s complex crawler platforms.
Read the original at Defence247.gr
