The K9 self-propelled howitzer, a "cash cow" export item for Korea's defense industry, has begun local production in Egypt. The defense industry expects that, starting with the K9, sales of domestic weapon systems will expand in the Middle East and Africa.
According to the defense industry on the 23rd, Hanwha Aerospace began mass production at Egypt's 200th Military Factory around the end of last year after setting up a K9 self-propelled howitzer line with Egypt. The 200th Military Factory was previously used for licensed production and maintenance of the U.S. M1A1 Abrams tank.
At this factory, Hanwha Aerospace personnel and Egyptian government officials are producing K9 self-propelled howitzers for Egypt together. Once they roll out this month, they will undergo evaluation and then be delivered to the Egyptian military.
The K10 ammunition resupply vehicle and the K11 fire direction armored vehicle are also scheduled to be produced locally in Egypt. In particular, this is the first time the K11 fire direction armored vehicle has been exported. The K9 self-propelled howitzer is used not only by the Egyptian army but also by the navy.
The K11 fire direction armored vehicle aims at maritime targets and calculates range and other data, which it sends to the fire control system mounted on the K9 self-propelled howitzer to increase accuracy. Hanwha Systems developed this system.
The contract signed by Egypt and Hanwha Aerospace covers 216 K9 self-propelled howitzers, 39 K10 ammunition resupply vehicles, and 51 K11 fire direction armored vehicles. According to a business report disclosed by Hanwha Aerospace on the 16th, the aggregates of orders under the export contract amount to 2.51 trillion won. The volume fulfilled to date is 562.8 billion won, and the remaining order backlog is 1.9472 trillion won.
As much as 77% of the total contract volume will be produced locally in Egypt. The biggest feature of the K9 self-propelled howitzers for Egypt is that they are equipped with a domestically produced 1,000-horsepower diesel engine that STX Engine completed developing in 2024.
In the past, STX Engine mounted a licensed-production engine based on Germany's MTU engine. Because of this, the German government did not approve sales of the K9 self-propelled howitzer to countries such as Egypt, Türkiye, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), restricting exports. Now that an engine independently developed and produced by STX Engine is installed, the way has effectively opened to export the K9 self-propelled howitzer more freely.
As "defense protectionism" spreads worldwide, domestic defense firms are building growth momentum through development of domestic engines and local production.
Recently, the European Union (EU) unveiled a "European rearmament plan" to have mainstay weapons produced in Europe. In response, Hanwha Aerospace is building factories in Romania to produce K9 self-propelled howitzers and K10 ammunition resupply vehicles. Hyundai Rotem is also pushing for local production of the K2 tank in Poland.
The Middle East and Africa are also asking domestic defense firms to shift away from the simple model of importing Korean-made products and move to "ecosystem exports" that encompass technology, production, and maintenance.
If a defense ecosystem takes shape in the Middle East and Africa and the supply chain stabilizes, domestic firms can build a foundation for continuing business over the long term. That is because they can respond quickly to urgent demand and handle volumes that are hard to manage with domestic factories alone, among other advantages.
In particular, there is an assessment that the production line established locally in Egypt will serve as a foundation to move to the next-generation K9A2 and K9A3. With a foothold now in place, sales of other ground weapon systems may also increase. Hanwha Aerospace is known to have proposed the export of the Chunmoo multiple launch rocket system to Egypt in Dec.