Upgrades have begun on the K10 ammunition resupply vehicle (K10), which automatically loads rounds into the K9 self-propelled howitzer. It comes 21 years after the first development was completed in 2005. The move is intended to pair it with the next-generation K9A2, and industry expectations are that once the upgrade is finished, the K10's role as a "hidden weapon" for K9 exports will grow even larger.
According to the defense industry on the 5th, Hanwha Aerospace(012450) entered detailed design for the K10 performance upgrade in May. Together with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the Army, and the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality (DTaQ), it plans to complete the detailed design by the end of this month, then proceed to prototype production and development testing and evaluation. The target for completion is 2028, after which it will be delivered to the first K9A2 fielding unit and undergo field operation testing.
The K10 is an automated, robot-type armored vehicle dedicated to ammunition resupply that maximizes the performance of the K9 self-propelled howitzer. Samsung Techwin, the predecessor of Hanwha Aerospace, began development in 1998 and completed it in 2005. It transports and stores about 100 shells and about 500 propellant charges, then connects the transfer device at the front of the vehicle to the ammunition loading tray at the rear of the K9 to resupply. The resupply speed exceeds 10 rounds per minute.
If the K9 self-propelled howitzer is not operated together with the K10, it must return to base once it expends its ammunition. The K9's ammunition load is known to be about 40 rounds.
The core of this K10 upgrade is a higher level of automation. Because the firing side is being automated, the ammunition side must keep pace. The K9A2 is being developed to fully automate the turret, increase the rate of fire per minute, and reduce the crew from five to three. In existing howitzers, personnel sorted and loaded propellant charges according to range, but starting with the K9A2, the onboard computer calculates the target range, determines the required propellant charges with a robotic arm, and loads them.
To that end, the K10 will have separate shell supply and propellant separation devices. While shells are supplied as shells to the turret's internal loading device, propellant charges are separated and supplied one by one. Because range varies with the number of propellant charges, this is to ensure loading of exactly the number required by the K9A2. An air conditioner and a thermal imaging periscope will also be newly applied. A Hanwha Aerospace official said, "Because it is still under development, we cannot disclose specific performance."
Although it is a government research and development project funded with state money, core technologies such as the propellant separation device are being developed under the lead of Hanwha Aerospace. When the K10 was first built in 1998, Samsung Techwin also led the project to enable joint operation with the K9. Hanwha Aerospace plans to incorporate the know-how accumulated over 21 years of production and maintenance into this upgrade as is.
Once the upgrade is completed, the K10 itself is expected to become an additional source of revenue. It will also diversify Hanwha Aerospace's ground defense portfolio. Ten countries, including Korea, currently operate the K9 self-propelled howitzer, and among them, five countries, including Egypt, Australia, Norway, and Romania, have also introduced the K10.
In particular, the K10 has already proven decisive in contract competitions. In 2024, the K9 faced Germany's PzH2000 in Romania's self-propelled howitzer program. Hanwha Aerospace had to break through the long-standing practice of NATO members buying and selling weapons among themselves, and it persuaded the Romanian government by highlighting that the K10 could be operated as a package. The result was a contract worth about 1.4 trillion won, including 54 K9s and 36 K10s.
The United States also succeeded in developing an ammunition resupply vehicle like the K10, but it did not reach commercialization. The use of expensive materials and parts drove costs excessively high and increased weight, leading to the judgment that business feasibility was low. In effect, because the K10 is the only mass-production system in this field, analysts say that raising automation levels through upgrades will inevitably boost the competitiveness of the K9A2-plus-K10 package.
A defense industry official said, "Countries that have already received deliveries could request the new model, and it could lead to additional purchases," adding, "That is why the upgrade program needs to be expanded."