K9 Thunder users to launch community

First meeting will take place in Korea this April

As Hanwha Defense has exported so many variants of the K9 Self-Propelled Howitzer (SPH), more than 1,700 variants are in service in up to nine countries.

The wide usage came up with the rising demand to share their experiences and know-how of operating the artillery solution, which led to the K9 User Community.

The first meeting of the K9 User Community will take place this April in the city of Changwon, the home turf of the K9 Thunder in South Korea.

Hanwha Defense has sent out an invitation to the armies of the K9 user countries, including Finland, Norway, and Estonia. Australia, which signed a contract in December 2021 to produce the AS9 Huntsman, was also invited to the upcoming event. Such a meeting is planned to take place regularly with a rotating host.

“The K9 User Club meeting in Changwon will be an inaugural event for the K9 users to learn from each other and share experience on how to get the best out of the equipment and how to train best for the artillery solution,” said Pasi Pasivirta, European business development director of Hanwha Defense.

“All participants can take advantage of the venue to find the optimized operation and sustainment doctrine of the K9 artillery gun with their knowledge and know-how.”

Delegates at the meeting would include representatives from the armies, logistics, and maintenance organizations of the member countries, while local industry partners related to the supply and production of the K9 SPHs have also been invited to the Changwon meeting to address potential opportunities for industrial cooperation, according to Hanwha Defense.

One of the local industry partners, Australia’s Universal Motion Simulation that is specialized in developing vehicle motion simulators, will have an opportunity to pitch their driving simulation solution and capability. In 2021 the company signed an MoU with Hanwha Defense Australia for involvement in international markets for the K9 SPH.

Hanwha Defense said that the K9 user meeting is to have multiple working group sessions, such as on operation, training, and maintenance, where each participant can share its unique experience and knowledge accrued from the operation of the K9 artillery solution.