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Faster to fire: Hanwha’s K9 takes aim at U.S. Army's artillery modernization

Published: 08 Sep. 2025, 07:00 Updated: 12 Sep. 2025, 14:31

CHO YONG-JUN
[email protected]

Hanwha Aerospace's K9 self-propeller howitzer [HANHWA AEROSPACE]

[NEXT CHIP]

For decades, semiconductors and automobiles have dominated Korea’s exports, driving growth and defining its global trade identity. But as shifting global dynamics and mounting uncertainties over U.S. tariffs unsettle traditional trade patterns, a new industrial order is taking shape. Sectors such as shipbuilding and defense are emerging as the next engines of growth. In our “Next Chip” series, we examine the rise of these industries and their potential to reshape Korea’s economic future.

The K9 Thunder has been adopted by countries around the world, with NATO allies like Poland and Norway, as well as Vietnam in Southeast Asia and even Australia, a Five Eyes Nation, purchasing the self-propelled howitzer. Hanwha Aerospace and its subsidiary Hanwha Defense USA have entered the United States, aiming to join the U.S. Army's efforts to modernize its aging self-propelled howitzer arsenal.

Hanwha believes that the K9, with a fast mission cycle time and performance that has drawn orders from 10 countries, gives the howitzer an edge.

"We’ve built over 2,700 K9s and we have over 3,300 on order; no one else can touch that,” Hanwha Defense USA CEO and President Mike Smith said in an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily at the Hanwha Group’s Seoul office in central Seoul.

Hanwha Defense USA is the U.S. subsidiary of Hanwha Aerospace — responsible for the development of rocket engines, aeroplane engine parts and howitzers — that focuses on the defense industry. However, as of now, the company’s primary goal in the country is to have its howitzer chosen by the U.S. Army and to build a plant that produces 155-millimeter howitzer propelling charges.

Hanwha Defense USA President and CEO Mike Smith speaks during an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily at the Hanwha Building in central Seoul. [PARK SANG-MOON]

Faster mission cycle, interoperability with allies

The company was awarded a trial agreement by the U.S. Army in October 2024 to modernize its self-propelled howitzers, alongside American Rheinmetall Vehicles, BAE Bofors, General Dynamics Land Systems and Elbit Systems USA. A successful demonstration could pave the way for future production deals.

The ongoing effort of the U.S. Army to modernize its aging M109 self-propelled howitzer series marks its fourth attempt, after previous attempts ended unsuccessfully due to cost and technological issues in the development. And while the latest and most modern variant, the M109A7, only came to service in 2015, the U.S. Army formally began the Self-Propelled Howitzer Modernization effort in October 2024 to find its successor.

The U.S. Armed Forces' history of consistently using U.S.-designed systems on top of the ongoing "America First" policy pursued by U.S. President Donald Trump may make such progress seem improbable for Hanwha Defense USA. But Smith — a Navy veteran with 20-plus years of experience in the defense industry — was confidently optimistic.

Smith said that for the towed Soviet-, German- and U.S.-designed self-propelled howitzers used in the war in Ukraine, Smith said the mission cycle time — the amount of time a howitzer takes to aim, fire and reload — was the primary deficit, followed by range.

“The rate of fire, the magazine depth of the K9, which it can carry 47-plus-one around, and having an automated resupply solution that no one else has — all of those things, when you put them together, deliver a mission cycle time that’s faster than anyone else,” he said.

And while the K9 has a conventional range of 40 kilometers (25 miles), the extended range 155-millimeter ammunition is expected to raise the maximum range further.

Smith also emphasized that the current landscape, in which many European nations, NATO allies — Poland, Finland, Estonia and Norway — and Australia are choosing the K9 over the German PzH 2000, will give the U.S. Army benefits in terms of interoperability and commonality with its allies.

Hanwha is considering building a 155-millimeter artillery production facility in the United States as per the Army’s efforts to modernize and expand the production rate to 100,000 rounds per month, to replenish historically low inventory levels. It was reported in June that Hanwha Aerospace began a feasibility study of a 155-millimeter smart factory in the United States.

“It is our intention to help the U.S. Army bring additional capacity online, but the timeline of the factory, however, is something we’re being very deliberate and thoughtful about as we roll out this strategy,” Smith said, emphasizing that this was not an effort to push the K9 into the United States but to “fulfill” the Army’s stated operational needs.

Beyond land, to the ocean and skies

Simultaneously, the company is also expanding in the sky, with Hanwha Aerospace aiming to win maintenance, repair and operation contracts from the U.S. Air Force, while Hanwha Ocean's subsidiary, Hanwha Philly Shipyard, aims to expand to the U.S. Navy.

"Hanwha Philly Shipyard is a facility where we can leverage existing commercial capacity to produce military ships," Smith said. "While we are building government ships at the moment, we can position that yard to produce naval surface assets such as auxiliary ships and specialized vessels."

The Hanwha Defense USA CEO also said the new Korean administration plays an important role for the company and for the Korean defense industry by maintaining the focus on defense industry exports of previous administrations.

“The Korean government has been fantastic in supporting the industry, and at a macro level, at a historic level, we are brothers in arms, and we’re partners in peace,” he said. “I do think this new administration is going to follow the blueprint that’s been so successful, that has enabled and allowed for this nation to live in peace for so many years.”

But as Hanwha Defense USA awaits the U.S. Army’s evaluations, Smith had larger goals for the company.

“I suggest Hanwha to be a multidomain prime by 2035 and an absolute national powerhouse in the United States by 2040.”

Hanwha Defense USA President and CEO Mike Smith speaks during an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily at the Hanwha Building in central Seoul. [PARK SANG-MOON]

BY CHO YONG-JUN [[email protected]]