Egypt interested in buying K-9 howitzer

By Jun Ji-hye

Korea’s K-9 self-propelled howitzers will go through performance evaluation tests in Egypt later this month, sources said Wednesday, indicating negotiations over their possible export are ongoing.

“A K-9 Thunder howitzer has arrived in Egypt,” a source told Yonhap News Agency. “Test-firing will take place at the end of the month at a range located west of Cairo.”

In June 2016, defense officials here told reporters that Hanwha Techwin, the manufacturer of the K-9 howitzer, was in talks with at least seven countries in Asia, Europe and Africa over exporting the artillery piece. At the time, they did not reveal the names of the countries, citing confidentiality obligations.

Hanwha Techwin, the defense arm of Korea’s conglomerate Hanwha Group, developed the 155-millimeter howitzer for the nation’s armed forces in 1998 to replace K-55 howitzers.

The K-9, with a maximum range of 40 kilometers and a maximum travel speed of 67 kilometers per hour, can fire six rounds a minute.

Other howitzers competing with the K-9 in Egypt include those made by France, Russia, South Africa and Saudi Arabia.

Military officials here say the K-9, one of the core weapons used by the Republic of Korea Army, has a competitive edge due to its low price and high performance, and it has proven reliable during operations.

Egypt reportedly plans to complete performance evaluations of the howitzers by the end of the year and sign a deal at the beginning of next year.

Seoul initially began negotiations with Cairo to export the K-9 in 2010, but the talks came to a standstill the following year amid the Arab Spring revolution, which ousted then-President Hosni Mubarak, sources noted. The two sides resumed their negotiations this year, they added.

In 2011, the Korean defense company sold 350 K-9 howitzers to Turkey on a technology transfer basis, which called for the firm to provide parts and technology. The value of the deal was estimated at about $1 billion.

Then in 2014, the firm also signed a deal with Poland to sell 120 K-9s. At the time, the company said the export, whose total value was estimated at about $310 million, was expected to help the firm pave the way for more sales in Europe.

Finland was the third country to purchase Korean-made K-9s and India, the fourth.