Turkiye and India have chosen not to participate in the annual forum K9 User Club, a group of countries that operate the K9 tracked self-propelled 155mm/52 caliber howitzer system manufactured by South Korean defense giant Hanwha. .
According to a Hanwha release, approximately 50 military representatives from six K9 user countries attended the meeting: Australia, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Poland, and South Korea, with the United States also participating as an observer.
K9 artillery is in active service in seven countries including Estonia, Finland, India, Norway, Poland, South Korea and Turkiye, with Australia and Egypt also planning to field artillery systems in the coming years.
Although Turkiye is an operator, the Turkish government opposed Helsinki’s application to join the NATO alliance in 2022 following Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in the same year, leading to a dispute with Finland, a new NATO member. is caught up in Turkiye maintains close ties with Russia and was a key element of Russia’s now-terminated agreement allowing Ukrainian grain exports under the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
The three-day K9 User Club conference from January 23rd to 25th will also include representatives from global defense companies such as Finland’s Milog. Kongsberg from Norway. HSW from Poland. Van Haltern from the Netherlands. Mr. Sousy from Canada participated in the discussion on industrial partnership. The conference will be held in Helsinki, Finland.
Finland, which hosts the event, operates the K9 “Moukali” gun system, which first entered service in 2018.
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At a press conference, South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Planning Agency (DAPA) shared the development roadmap for the next-generation K9A2 and K9A3 over the next 10 years. According to the manufacturer, the K9A2 will integrate a fully automated turret, increasing the level of automation, lethality, survivability and digitalization.
The K9A3 features increased range with the integration of a .58 caliber barrel, in addition to the incorporation of further automation and AI capabilities.
Meanwhile, Hanwha Aerospace announced plans to establish a K9 spare parts center in Europe to provide more effective logistics support to K9 customer countries in the region.
Hanwha claims that the K9 155mm howitzer has been a huge success in the global market, with approximately 1,800 units in operation, accounting for more than 50% of the global market share for artillery SPH platforms. Howitzers are capable of long-range firing over 40km.
K9 User Club was launched in Changwon City in April 2022 with the purpose of rotating hosts. The first meeting will be hosted by South Korea, followed by the second in Norway in 2023 and the third in Finland this year.
It is thought that the K9 could be adopted into the UK’s Mobile Defense Firepower program, which aims to replace the aging AS90 155mm platform used by the British Army.
However, Britain’s recent ad hoc acquisition of the wheeled Archer 155mm gun system from Sweden, and the formation of an industry team to pursue future sales in the UK, is a sign of the complex tracked platform in the British Army. It may indicate a transition from
