Bucharest, September 15, 2024 – RBJ – Hanwha Aerospace, an aerospace industrial company based in South Korea, will start the construction of an armored vehicle factory in Romania at the beginning of next year, for the defense industry. Peter Bae, vice president of Hanwha Aerospace Europe, told News.ro that Romania will become a regional hub for all Hanwha ground systems in Europe. Regarding the location, the company does not make this aspect public yet.
Hanwha Aerospace signed a $1 billion contract in July 2024 to supply Romania with 54 K9 self-propelled howitzers and 36 K10 ammunition supply vehicles, as part of a global contract that also includes dozens of wheeled support vehicles together with related ammunition.
“According to the contract, Hanwha Aerospace is determined to build large-scale production and maintenance facilities in Romania to provide not only state-of-the-art platforms, but also economic and industrial benefits,” said Peter Bae.
Work on the factory is expected to begin early next year.
As part of the plans to expand the partnership with Romania, Hanwha Aerospace offers Redback for the modernization of the IFV of the Romanian Army. The Redback is the world’s most advanced IFV (infantry fighting vehicle) with a number of innovative technologies, including composite rubber tracks, a hard-kill active protection system and a transparent helmet-mounted display.
The company’s representatives say that they are ready to establish deep industrial cooperation with Romania.
“A crucial part of our proposal includes the establishment of a production facility together with an MRO (Maintenance Repair Operations) Center of Excellence (CoE), integrating Romanian enterprises into Hanwha’s global supply chain,” said Peter Bae, Vice President of Hanwha Aerospace Europe.
He points out that Romania will become a regional hub for all Hanwha land systems in Europe.
“The common elements between K9 Tunet and Redback are the elements that can significantly contribute to the development of Romania as a production, MRO and upgrade center of all Hanwha land systems in Europe,” said Peter Bae. We refer here to that term known as commonality explained by that high level of common and similar elements between the K9 and the Redback: the powertrain or the chassis, for example. These will increase the efficiency of operation, production and maintenance of both systems, both Redback and K9 Tunet.
Hanwha Aerospace, South Korea’s largest defense company, recently inaugurated an armored vehicle production facility in Australia. In the Australian LAND 400 Phae 3 competition, Redback won against Rheinmetall Lynx, CV90 built by BAE Systems and ASCOD developed by General Dynamics European Land Systems.
“The opening of the Hanwha Armored Vehicle Center of Excellence (H-ACE) represents Hanwha’s firm determination to further expand its footprint on the global market. At the same time, it is a clear proof of Hanwha’s commitment to localization efforts to bring maximum economic benefits to the local industry, not only providing state-of-the-art platforms, but also creating and maintaining jobs. It is a significant investment from Hanwha. The factory was built on a plot of land of approximately 150,000 square meters, near the Avalon Airport in Geelong, within only two years”, adds the representative of the company.
The H-ACE center includes several assembly lines for both self-propelled howitzers and infantry fighting vehicles, a 1.5 km test track, a training wing and a research and development facility.
In terms of economic impact, this location is expected to support over 2,000 jobs over the years of the LAND 8116 and LAND 400 Phase 3 programs. The LAND 8116 program is intended to manufacture 30 AS9 self-propelled howitzers (K9 variant Australian) and AS10 armored personnel carriers (Australian variant K10), while LAND 400 phase 3 is intended for the production of 129 Redback infantry fighting vehicles.
“As one of the world’s leading defense manufacturers, we are fully committed to investing in local industries and transferring relevant technologies through active localization programs designed to maximize economic and industrial benefits for the respective regions. In this sense, the opening of H-ACE is proof of Hanwha’s commitment to work with local industry in strong partnerships with partner nations,” said Jaeil Son, President and CEO of Hanwha Aerospace, at the H-ACE ceremony in Geelong, Victory.
Romania became the 10th user state of the K9 howitzer, thus increasing the international community of beneficiaries of the 155 mm/52 caliber self-propelled howitzer, which represents over 50% of the world market of self-propelled howitzers.
After Norway and Australia, Romania will also be the third global operator of the K10, which enables a fully automated replenishment capability to maximize the effectiveness of artillery forces.
Founded in 1977, Hanwha Aerospace is a global aerospace and defense company that offers a broad portfolio of world-class products and services. These include ground combat vehicles such as the K9 self-propelled howitzer, the Redback infantry fighting vehicle and the Chunmoo K239 multiple rocket launcher system. The company also produces precision-guided munitions and engines for air, space and maritime platforms.
