Lockheed partners with Hanwha to build howitzers in U.K.

By Ethan Sterenfeld / March 18, 2022 at 11:11 AM

A Lockheed Martin subsidiary has joined Hanwha Defense's effort to build self-propelled howitzers for the British army in the United Kingdom, according to an announcement today from the Korean defense contractor.

Hanwha has previously announced plans to offer the newest version of its K9 howitzer in a competition to replace the British army’s 155 mm howitzers. The company has added Lockheed Martin U.K., the British subsidiary of Leonardo and multiple other British firms to its team.

Hanwha has pitched its howitzer technology as a future upgrade option for the U.S. Army, and it has emphasized its ability to set up manufacturing facilities outside South Korea, so that military vehicles are built locally.

The K9 uses a 52-caliber barrel, which falls in between the length of the 39-caliber barrel on the Army’s legacy M109 howitzer and the 58-caliber barrel on the Extended Range Cannon Artillery that the Army is developing. Many other modern howitzer systems in allied countries, including a number of truck-mounted howitzers that foreign manufacturers have pitched for the Army, use 52-caliber barrels.

Hanwha has also tried to break into the U.S. market through the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle program, where it has partnered with Oshkosh Defense.

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