Hanwha Defence Australia (HDA) has completed the first three Australian-made AS9 Huntsman Self-Propelled Howitzers (SPH) made at the Hanwha Armoured Vehicle Centre of Excellence (H-ACE) in Victoria.
“Seeing the first Australian made AS9s come off the production line and drive their first laps around our test track is a milestone that we’re all very proud of,” HDA and UK/Europe CEO, Ben Hudson, said.
“This program will see a game changing capability introduced to the Australian Army underpinned by a strategic partner in Hanwha Defence Australia. With the K9 User Community now 11 nations strong, the AS9 variant pushes the boundaries of the platform.”
These new vehicles have joined the three (Batch 1 consisting of two AS9s and one AS10, made in South Korea) announced in February last year.
“The technology transfer on the LAND 8116 program between South Korea and Australia has been a pilot program in many ways, demonstrating the deepening relationship between the two nations,” Hudson said.
“This experience provides the foundation to succeed on our other Defence vehicle programs."
Thanks to HDA’s supply chain of local and international partners, the vehicles will now go through further testing and training activities as the capability prepares to come into service. HDA has been working with soldiers from the Australian Army in the H-ACE training wing, preparing operators and maintainers.
The Batch 1 vehicles have been undertaking driver and maintainer training alongside further testing and verification including firing trials for the past 12 months, ensuring that operators are familiar with the vehicles. New vehicles are being added to this training program as they become available.
The AS9 and AS10 Huntsman have been developed to incorporate learnings and experience from the global fleet of approximately 2400 K9s and K10s.
With the AS9 Huntsman, Hanwha has a 52-calibre 155mm gun system that is in service with multiple nations around the world, including the NATO alliance.
The AS10 Huntsman Armoured Ammunition Resupply Vehicle (AARV) has a unique loading system, according to HDA.
The AS9 was manufactured with Australian supply chain partners like AME, Aurizn, Axalta, Bisalloy Steel, CBG Systems, Defcon, and DVR, Elphinstone, Eylex, HIFraser, Kongsberg Defence Australia, Maser, MMCLD, Redline Engineering, Rojone, Safran Electronics and Defence Australasia, Stahl Metal, TEi, Thales Australia, and Thomas Warburton working alongside the international supply chain base.
The first Australian-made AS10 has been scheduled to come off the H-ACE production line this year.