Page 78 - Australian Defence Magazine June 2021

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JUNE 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
AUSTRALIANINDUSTRYCAPABILITY
Hanwha Defense Australia managing director Richard Cho told delegates at ADM’s Congress in Canberra in February that the company understands the importance of self-reliance for each country it supports and he pointed to Norway’s VIDAR project as an example.
“Under the VIDAR K9 program we went head-to-head with four major suppliers, some of which were major Euro- pean companies. In other words, we competed with them in their own backyard and won. But the program demands, in terms of self-reliance, were onerous,” he said. “All lev- els of support had to be in-country; Norwegian industry had to be central to the solution and the capability had to be fully networked. Not just with the Joint Fires systems, but also other enablers such as the joint logistics systems and direct fire systems such as their Remote Weapons Sta- tions (RWS) fleet and manoeuvre C2 Systems. All this was achieved on-budget and on time.”
“WE ARE ALREADY WORKING WITH A SELECT GROUP
OF LOCAL COMPANIES, TRIALLING THEIR TECHNOLOGY FOR POSSIBLE APPLICATION INTO OUR PRODUCTION METHODS, BOTH HERE AND IN KOREA
Cho also said that Hanwha had worked with its NATO customers to create a European sustainment hub, which included technology transfer to Poland and maintenance and repair capabilities in Estonia, Finland and Norway.
“Ongoing operational capability relies heavily on ef- fective support capability. But this in and of itself is not enough: the demand and economic activity must be there to create the skills, jobs and – to state it bluntly – the cash flow to keep the support system working,” he told the audience.
“Big one-off export orders do not achieve this, and it is getting harder to do as nations now demand their own ver- sions of self-reliance and the use of their defence budgets to generate jobs and economic benefit.”
Cho highlighted the expertise Australian industry holds with regard to low volume and cost-efficient manufacture of highly specialised systems and components, saying the capability was hard to replicate elsewhere.
“Hanwha will contribute to growing the Australian in- dustrial base by leveraging international demand on our company as an opportunity for Australian industry,” he added. “We will achieve this by being inclusive in our so- lutions and creating opportunities for our Australian part- ners to present their skillsets, solutions and services that may benefit our clients around the world.”
In March last year Hanwha and Australian veteran- owned BenchOn announced a partnership to create a Hanwha Australian Industry Portal (AIP) to engage with local businesses to access their capabilities and services. In a statement to mark the occasion, BenchOn CEO Tim Walmsley described the Hanwha AIP as the first of its kind in the world.
“It will not only link Hanwha to the best Australian companies to find the high-quality specialists they need to support their programs, but also allows them to manage their Australian and Global Supply Chain from the same dashboard,” Walmsley said. “Unlike other supply chain management, the Hanwha AIP is a private system that protects companies’ proprietary information, automati- cally manages potential conflicts of interest and controls the flow of sensitive information to ensure that it is only received by the appropriate companies.”
One recent example of Australian industry expertise identified by Hanwha Defense Australia is an MoU signed in March with Adelaide-based welding company K-TIG, which will develop advanced keyhole welding procedures for the manufacture of components on Land 8116 and in the future, should Hanwha be successful, Land 400/3.
“Partnering with Hanwha to create crucial equipment for Australia’s defence is a significant opportunity for K- TIG to deploy the speed, efficiency and effectiveness of our advanced keyhole welding technology, all while help- ing to create local jobs, develop strategically vital manu- facturing skills for the nation, and provide the Australian Army with the self-propelled artillery capability it’s de- sired for many years,” K-TIG managing director Adrian Smith said in a notice to the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) on March 23.
With regard to Land 8116 specifically, Hanwha an- nounced back in November 2020 that it has selected Kongs- berg Defence Australia to be its C4I partner on the pro- gram. Kongsberg already provides the digital architecture systems for Hanwha’s K9 and K10 and Richard Cho said it was a “natural fit” for the Huntsman program also. Kongs- berg will be responsible for integrating the protected Mo- bile Fires capability into the ADF’s C4I structure, includ- ing the integration of tactical communications systems and Army’s BMS, and deliver enhanced operability with coali- tion partners through its Odin Fire Support System (FSS).
“Together with Hanwha Defense Australia, Kongsberg is committed to the establishment of a sovereign indus- trial capability to support the Australian Protected Mobile Fires capability throughout its service life,” commented Kongsberg Defence Australia general manager John Fry. “We’ll continue to source as much C4 hardware as pos- sible through Australian and NZ-based suppliers.”
Although Hanwha Defense Australia is yet to announce its selection of a site in Geelong, it may be reasonable to assume such an announcement is not far away – especially if the former Defence Minister’s promise to have the first Huntsman roll-off the production line by the end of FY 22/23 is to be kept.
“Hanwha will contribute to growing the Australian industrial base by leveraging international demand on our company as an opportunity for Australian industry,” Richard Cho promised at the recent ADM Congress. “We want to use Australian industry’s know-how and take it to the world. We are already working with a select group of local companies, trialling their technology for possible application into our production methods, both here and in Korea.” ■