Page 74 - Australian Defence Magazine October 2021
P. 74

                    74   FROM THE SOURCE RICHARD CHO CONTINUED FROM PAGE 82
rubber tracks that radically decrease noise and vibration. We will also bring to the OMFV program the immense ex- pertise we have developed in the localisation of our K9 ve- hicle into more than six nations; the benefit of this should not be underestimated in terms of the understanding it brings with respect to the complexity of local content, man- ufacture, design and IP transfer.
The Bradley replacement will be a tough competition but Hanwha Defense USA will bring plenty to the table along with Oshkosh and the rest of the team, and all the achieve- ments made in the development of Redback, to strengthen their bid.
I believe the technology improvement undertaken with Australian industry will be part of the OMFV solution. HDA and some of the Australian companies involved with
OCTOBER 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
Redback development will likely have the opportunity to part take in the OMFV design phase as part of a collective approach with Hanwha Defense USA.
You should also note that The RoK Defense Department has asked that Hanwha Defense Australia should deliver, by April of next year, the current variant of the Redback vehicle to Korea to undergo a performance evaluation to inform the Korean future Infantry Fighting Vehicle pro- gram. This is of immense importance to both Australia and Korea. Firstly, it shows that Korea has confidence in the Redback as a contender for their future IFV and secondly, offers a possible joint pathway forward between Korea and Australia for future vehicle programs. This collaboration on vehicles may also occur, if down-selected, with the K9 and K10 fleets as well. So, to be frank, there are many op- portunities for future collaboration between Australia and Korea to develop supply chains and products to not only support Australia but allies as well.
    



























































































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