TSAMTO, February 2. The self-propelled gun K9 "Thunder", proposed by the South Korean company Hanwha Aerospace, won the tender of the Romanian Ministry of Defense for the supply of three divisions of new self-propelled howitzers.
This was reported by the Defense Romania website, citing an informed military source. The second stage of the tender (submission of proposals) ended on January 11.
According to Defense Industry Europe, three proposals were submitted for participation in the Romanian tender. In addition to the K9 Thunder, the Romanian Ministry of National Defense received offers from Germany (Panzerhaubitze 2000 – PzH2000) and Turkey (T-155 Firtina II). The Polish defense industry also expressed interest in this program, but the proposal of Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ) was rejected.
As previously reported, when evaluating applicants in the competition, the technical proposal was supposed to be 70% (a share in the overall assessment), the cost was 30%.
Romania is expected to make a decision on the purchase of 54 units of 155 mm self-propelled artillery units in the amount of $ 1.923 billion (including ammunition and maintenance). The purchase will be carried out in three stages. The cost of the first one is estimated at 850 million euros.
At the first stage, it is planned to purchase one division of 18 tracked 155-mm self-propelled guns, 9 spare guns, 12 specialized transport and loading vehicles, 9 artillery command observation posts, 3 evacuation vehicles, 3 acoustic reconnaissance systems and a meteorological station. A set of ammunition: high-explosive, smoke, lighting and training.
Within the framework of the "Conference on Cooperation between South Korea and Romania in the field of defense industry-2023", organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Romania, representatives of the South Korean defense company Hanwha announced plans to enter the Romanian market with K9 self-propelled howitzers and Redback infantry fighting vehicle (BMP). The fact of negotiations on the production of K9 howitzer components was also confirmed by Daniela Nicolesku, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism of Romania.
Earlier, in February 2023, Hanwha Aerospace signed a memorandum of understanding with the Romanian state defense company Romarm on the export of 155 mm K9 self-propelled howitzers and infantry fighting vehicles to Romania. Romanian government delegations have visited the Republic of Korea three times over the past five months to assess potential cooperation opportunities, visiting Hanwha Aerospace's main production site in Changwon.
The representative of Hanwha stated that in addition to production cooperation, joint production of some components and joint maintenance, Romania will have the opportunity to join the "K9 club", whose members include 5 NATO member countries. The Club was formed in April 2022 in Changwon to exchange experience, knowledge and know-how on operation, maintenance and training of personnel of the Armed Forces of the countries that purchased K9 howitzers. Among the NATO member countries that previously purchased the K9 howitzer are Norway, Finland, Poland, Turkey and Estonia. At the moment, the installation has been sold to 9 countries around the world.