Hanwha Defense Australia has announced that Kongsberg Defence Australia will be its Command, Control, Communications, and Computing (C4) Integration partner for Project Land 8116 Phase 1 (Protected Mobile Fires).
This follows the government's recent announcement that it intends to acquire a quantity of Self-Propelled Howitzers and Armoured Ammunition Resupply Vehicles from HDA.
The Managing Director of HDA, Richard Cho, said that Kongsberg was a natural choice for the Protected Mobile Fires program as they provide the proven digital architecture and Fire Control System for Hanwha’s K9 and K10.
“The cooperation between Hanwha and Kongsberg has already proven to be highly successful for the recent Norwegian ‘Vidar’ K9 and K10 Program, and in the delivery of K9 vehicles to Finland and Estonia," Cho said.
Hanwha’s K9 is known locally as the Huntsman and it will bring improved interoperability for the ADF with both NATO and US armed forces through Kongsberg’s integrated ODIN fire support system.
“The selection of Kongsberg as a central part of our Land 8116 Ph 1 industry team will make a very important contribution to Hanwha’s capacity to deliver effective capability for the ADF while fulfilling our extensive Australian Industry Capability commitments.
Kongsberg will be responsible for integrating the Protected Mobile Fires capability into the ADF’s C4 Force Structure, including the integration of tactical communication systems and Battle Management Systems, and will also transfer hardware and software technology to Kongsberg Defence Australia to execute and support the Australian Protected Mobile Fires Program.
Kjetil R Myhra, Executive Vice President of Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace and Chairman of Kongsberg Defence Australia, said that Kongsberg was proud to be selected as Hanwha’s C4 integration partner for this strategic Joint Fires program.
“Project Land 8116 provides another great opportunity for Kongsberg to transfer world leading and proven C4 systems to Australian industry and enable sovereign capability. We will support our landed company Kongsberg Defence Australia and our local partners to meet the objectives of the recently released Land Combat and Protected Vehicles Industry Plan,” Myhra said.
General Manager of Kongsberg Defence Australia, John Fry, said Kongsberg Defence Australia is incredibly proud to be selected to deliver these capabilities for the Protected Mobile Fires program. Fry also said Kongsberg Defence Australia would continue to partner and work with Australian suppliers, as it has been doing under Project Land 19 Phase 7B.
“Together with Hanwha Defence Australia, Kongsberg is committed to the establishment of a sovereign industry capability to support the Australian Protected Mobile Fires capability throughout its service life. We’ll continue to source as much C4 hardware as possible through Australian and New Zealand-based suppliers,” Fry said.
Hanwha Defense Australia is planning a new manufacturing facility in the Greater Geelong area in Victoria to produce its Huntsman artillery systems and the armoured resupply vehicles. The Geelong facility will be a key hub in fulfilling the company’s AIC program on Land 8116.
Kongsberg Defence Australia will also establish a local software support and test environment that will be used by Kongsberg to support Land 8116 and other programs in Australia and the region.