K9 rolls on as Egypt unveils systems, Australia fires and Vietnam and Norway place orders
The Australian Army fired its new AS9 Huntsman SPH on home soil for the first time on 1 December. (Photo: Australian Department of Defence)
Hanwha Aerospace’s tracked K9 Thunder 155mm/52-calibre self-propelled howitzer has had notable success in the market over the past few years in Europe and Asia, with Poland alone ordering 316 systems.
Hanwha Aerospace has chalked up major milestones in deliveries of its K9 self-propelled howitzer (SPH) in the past few days, with Australian soldiers conducting first firings on home soil and Egypt demonstrating that its K9s are in service.
This follows hot on the heels of Norway ordering more systems in September and Vietnam placing an order in July, the latter meaning more than 1,300 of the systems have been ordered by 11 countries. Other countries which have placed contracts are India, Romania, Poland, Finland, Turkey, Estonia and South Korea.
Known in Australian service as the AS9 Huntsman, the country’s army is to
Our news & analysis is now part of Defence Insight®
A Basic-level or higher Defence Insight subscription is now required to view this content.
More from Land Warfare
-
![FIA 2026: MBDA launches low-cost interceptor for short-range air defence]()
FIA 2026: MBDA launches low-cost interceptor for short-range air defence
At FIA 2026, MBDA launched its Counter Mass Interceptor (CMI) which the company says is a mass-producible, low-cost effector for fire-and-forget engagements at range and altitude.
-
![“Timelines are measured in seconds”: tackling the UAS threat with dispersed defences]()
“Timelines are measured in seconds”: tackling the UAS threat with dispersed defences
Small uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) have transformed the battlespace, posing a complex threat across all domains. Militaries now need counter-UAS (CUAS) capabilities that defeat the danger while meeting demands around readiness, manoeuvrability and adaptability, according to Mike Spina, Director, Global Sales and Business Development for Targeting and Sensor Systems (TSS) at L3Harris Technologies.
-
![“No single technology is enough”: why an integrated approach to uncrewed warfare is essential]()
“No single technology is enough”: why an integrated approach to uncrewed warfare is essential
In Conversation… Ahmet Akyol, CEO of ASELSAN, talks to Shephard’s Gerrard Cowan about how the rapid evolution of uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) is transforming the battlespace, with militaries focused on both deploying these platforms to maximum effect and developing the defensive systems needed to counter them.
-
![Lasers heat up for counter-drone option as DroneLight tackles the big question]()
Lasers heat up for counter-drone option as DroneLight tackles the big question
Using lasers to defeat drones promises to solve the dilemma of using expensive kinetic effects to kill platforms worth a few hundred dollars. While maintaining thermal output to provide the effects can be a technical hurdle, Israel’s Esh-Tech is one company working on a solution.
