Currently, the Romanian army does not have self-propelled howitzers. To remedy this shortcoming, it does not envisage, a priori, a European solution [French CAESAr, German PzH2000 or Swedish Archer]… but South Korean, like Poland, Estonia, Norway and Finland.
Indeed, on February 6, and although Bucharest has made no announcement on the model intended for its armed forces, the South Korean group Hanwha Aeropace signed a memorandum of understanding with the public company ROMARM with a view to establishing a “global partnership” concerning not only the K-9 Thunder Maus howitzers but also the K-21 “Redback” infantry fighting vehicles [IFVs].
“If Romania opts for the K9, it will be the 10th country to deploy it,” commented Son Jae-il, CEO of Hanwha Aerospace. “We wish to contribute to the reinforcement of defense capabilities and the economic development of Romania through cooperation with local companies and technology transfers,” he added.
For his part, the Romanian Minister of Economy, Florin Marian Spataru, welcomed this memorandum of understanding, assuring that Bucharest will support all initiatives that will strengthen the industrial and technological base of local defense.
2 partnerships between 🇷🇴#Romarm and companies from 🇰🇷 were signed in one week. The memorandum of understanding was signed with #LIGNEX1,a renowned company in the defense industry in #Korea, after another partnership with #Hanwha was signed on Monday at the Ministry of Economy. pic.twitter.com/gJz6GFjd6k
— Florin Spătaru (@SpataruFlorinM) February 8, 2023
As a reminder, with a combat mass of more than 45 tons, the K9 has a 155 mm gun 52 calibers long and an MRSI [Multiple Rounds Simultaneous Impact / Tir Multiple Impact Simultaneous] capability, which allows it to fire three shells in 15 seconds on different trajectories, up to 40 km away
However, this agreement had been in the air for some time… Romanian officials have made several trips to South Korea over the past five months to try to forge such partnerships. A visit to Hanwha’s main production site was on the agenda.
Moreover, after having signed a memorandum of understanding with Hanwha Aeropace, ROMARM concluded another with LIG Nex1, the South Korean manufacturer of “complex” ammunition [missiles and torpedoes]. There, it is a question for this one of installing production chains in Romania, with technology transfers at the key.
Source: Zone Militaire
