 |
[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Kim Jisun] Hanwha Group will export its first civilian-led infantry combat armored vehicle "Redback" to Australia worth 3 trillion won. Five years after launching the project, it is an achievement that has been achieved over advanced defense industries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany.
Hanwha Aerospace announced on the 8th that it has signed a main contract worth $2.4 billion (about 3.138 trillion won) between its Australian subsidiary and the Australian Ministry of National Defense to supply 129 future orbital infantry combat armored vehicles. Earlier in July, the Australian government selected Redback as the preferred bidder for the "LAND 400 Stage 3" project, which is part of its military modernization policy.
Under the contract, Hanwha Aerospace will supply 129 red bags sequentially to the Australian military by 2028. Production takes place at a local plant under construction in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The K9 self-propelled howitzers, which previously signed an export contract worth 1 trillion won with the Australian government in 2021, will also be produced here.
Redback is the first case in which a private company has researched and developed weapons products that have not been in Korea for export and exported them to advanced markets. Analysts say South Korea's defense industry has opened a new horizon as Hanwha won the Australian government's military modernization project, beating tank powerhouse Germany's Line Metal, U.S. General Dynamics and the U.K.'s BAE Systems.
AlphaBIZ 김지선(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
