Finnish Army chief visits K-9 unit
By Yi Whan-woo
Seppo Toivonen
The commander of the Finnish Army has visited a unit of K-9 self-propelled howitzers, according to military sources, Sunday.
The visit by Lt. Gen. Seppo Toivonen, Sept. 10, came as the Finnish Army is in talks with Hanwha Techwin to buy K-9s to replace the country’s aging artillery weapons from 2020 to 2030.
Toivonen came to Korea to attend the Defense Expo Korea 2016 (DX Korea), an arms exhibition, from Sept. 7 to 10 at the KINTEX exhibition hall in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. It was aimed at boosting sales of Korean-made weapons abroad.
The Finnish military has “highly assessed” the K-9 for its range, maneuverability on mountainous terrain and proven capabilities in combat, according to a source.
The K-9 has a 155-millimeter gun that has a maximum range of 40 kilometers. It also has a maximum speed of 67 kilometers per hour and can fire a three-round burst in 15 seconds.
It has been one of the core weapons of the Korean Army since it was developed in 1998. It was used to counter North Korea’s attacks, including the artillery shelling of Yeonpyeong Island near the disputed maritime border in the West Sea in November 2010.
Hanwha Techwin, a defense arm of Hanwha Group, has exported K-9s to Turkey and Poland. Some industry insiders said Korea and India are close to striking a sales deal while Denmark and Norway also are considering buying the K-9.
Some 400 defense industry companies from more than 30 countries joined DX Korea.
From the Korean side were Hanwha Corp., Hanwha Techwin, Hanwha Defense Systems and Hanwha Thales.
The Association of the Republic of Korea Army hosted the exhibition and the Ministry of National Defense supported it.