A South Korean weapons manufacturer that traditionally specialized in older, less advanced armaments is seizing on demand for 155mm howitzers by producing them faster than the West.
Hanwha Aerospace can build its K9 self-propelled howitzer in about six months at $3.5 million apiece, Bloomberg reported, estimating the company to be two to three times as fast as its competitors.
By comparison, French supplier Nexter was estimated to take about 30 months to deliver its Caesar self-propelled howitzer. However, it was reported in early January to have reduced the wait time by half.
That tracks with estimated production times for other Western firms restarting howitzer manufacturing, though other factors, such as sourcing materials, may cost them additional time.
The US uses the M777 howitzer, built by British company BAE Systems. In January, the firm said it expected to reopen production of the artillery platform for new US Army orders and would deliver an initial tranche next year.
German manufacturer KNDS Deutschland is also expected to resume production of its self-propelled PzH 2000 howitzer, with parts from Rheinmetall. In June, it said it would deliver the first howitzers by mid-2025.
Bloomberg reported that Hanwha’s advantage comes from a streamlined production process that it’s kept running as big Western defense contractors turned to more advanced weaponry years ago.
Hanwha Aerospace CEO Son Jae-il told Bloomberg: “We focus on the middleweights, self-propelled guns, armored vehicles, tanks. In these, we’re already globally competitive.”
That class of weapon “is the stuff that Lockheed Martin and Boeing don’t do,” Yoon Sukjoon, a senior fellow at the Korea Institute for Military Affairs, told the outlet.
South Korean law prohibits defense contractors from exporting weapons to active combat zones. But Hanwha is finding business outside Ukraine.
Its customers include Poland, which officiated an order for 679 of the K9 howitzers in July 2022, and Romania, which was reported in April to be looking into its first defense contract with South Korea for $725 million.
According to Bloomberg, Hanwha’s annual revenue from arms exports has jumped 11 times to $1.1 billion since the war in Ukraine began.
In September, Hanwha factory workers in Changwon told Agence France-Presse that the facility had expanded production three times after Russia invaded.
That growth underscores a worldwide push to revitalize conventional arms manufacturing as global tensions worsen and major militaries send their inventory to Kyiv.
The US, for example, has begun driving up production of its 155mm shells from 10,000 rounds a month to a goal of 100,00 a month by 2025.
South Korea’s defense contractors have emerged as significant industry players, making the country the world’s 10th biggest arms exporter, per the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
According to SIPRI, the country held a 2% share of the global defense export market from 2019 to 2023, about 12% higher than the five years prior.
