Page 8 - Australian Defence Magazine July 2019
P. 8

NEWS REVIEW
INDUSTRY UPDATE
Self-propelled howitzers back on the cards
KATHERINE ZIESING | CANBERRA
THE government has announced that it is resuscitating a program to acquire self- propelled howitzers for the Army, formerly known as Land 17 Phase 2.
The original program was cancelled fol- lowing funding cuts in 2012 but will come back to life with Army set to acquire 30 self- propelled howitzers under the Smart Buyer framework. Although the prime contractor has not been specified, the build will take place around Geelong from 2022-2023.
“We will acquire 30 self-propelled how- itzers and their supporting systems, and we will build them and maintain them in Gee- long, drawing on the large manufacturing skills base in the region,” PM Scott Morri- son said in a statement.
“We will revive the self-propelled artillery project by bringing forward the Defence ac- quisition project known as ‘Protected Mo- bile Fires’ to address the capability gap left by Labor," Minister for Defence Industry Senator Linda Reynolds said.
Land 17 originally encompassed a range of technologies; the M-777 light- ed towed gun, Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System (AFATDS) – the Fire Support Command and Control (C2) system and associated training for these systems.
The guns in the running at the time were the PzH 2000 from KMW/Rheinmetall and the Samsung Techwin/Raytheon AS-9 (based on the K-9 platform); both capable
platforms in service with numerous militar- ies globally.
The SP gun was killed for Budget reasons at the federal level. SP guns were offered up as the sacrificial lamb in 2012 by then Chief of Army and a more M-777s were added into the mix.
Back in 2012, Raytheon worked with Samsung Techwin on the original K-9 of- fer for Land 17. Hanwha has since bought that company and is looking to prime their own bids in Australia. Hanwha is looking to build their own footprint - a footprint they plan to firmly plant in Geelong, the same place as the government is looking to build SP guns. See P32 for more on the SP guns announcement.
Hanwha announces Land 400 Phase 3 team
Hanwha’s K-9 self-
propelled howitzer was on offer back in 2012.
NIGEL PITTAWAY | MELBOURNE
HANWHA Defence Australia announced teaming arrangements for its Land 400 Phase 3 bid in Melbourne on May 23.
The company is teaming with EOS Group and Elbit Systems, with a vehicle based on the South Korean Army’s K21 Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) and desig- nated AS21 Redback.
The Australian version will have an EOS T2000 turret (fitted with an ATK 30mm cannon) and R400 Remote Weapons Sta- tion (RWS) and Elbit will furnish the Battle- field Management System (BMS) as well as its Iron Fist Active Protection System (APS) and Iron Vision see-through armour system.
Hanwha has previously announced that if it is successful in the competition, it will build a new facility in the Greater Geelong area to produce vehicles for the ADF and also, possibly, for export.
“We’re very proud that Hanwha has chosen Vic- toria as the place where it will seek to base its op- erations in Australia,” the Victorian Government’s Minister for Jobs Martin Pakula said at the teaming announcement.
Hanwha’s offering for Land 400 Phase 3 is based on the Redback IFV.
Under a two-stage program, Hanwha is proposing to build the chassis of the first 50 AS21 in South Korea, while si- multaneously transferring technology to the local industry base in Geelong. Local industry will perform systems integration with the EOS Australian-made turrets and Government Furnished Equipment (GFE). Stage two will see the local manu- facture of 350 vehicles, beginning in the middle of 2025.
“The interesting element to our ap- proach to Australia is that we come from a nation that understands what self-reliance means, we are faced with a 24/7 threat from our northern neighbour, so there- fore self-reliance is of paramount impor- tance to South Korea,” explained Hanwha Defence Australia managing director Richard Cho.
Cho added that Hanwha intended to utilise the expertise it intends to grow in Australia to potentially export to the Five Eyes (Australia, Canada, NZ, the US and UK) market.
8 | July 2019 | www.australiandefence.com.au
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