Hanwha Redback likely to win Australia’s military vehicle deal

It is expected Hanwha Aerospace will become an exporter of the future-oriented orbital armored vehicle 'Redback' (pictured) to Australia as the company has been selected as the preferred negotiation subject for Australia's infantry combat vehicle acquisition project. If the final contract is signed, this will mark the first time a domestically planned weapon system is exported to a specific foreign country, surpassing other global advanced companies from Germany and the United States.

On Thursday, Hanwha Aerospace announced that Redback, one of the two final candidates for Australia's military modernization project 'LAND 400 Phase3' infantry combat vehicle, has been chosen as the preferred negotiation subject. On the same day, Australian local media ABC News reported that "Hanwha beat Germany's Rheinmetall and won a contract worth 6 billion Australian dollars (approximately 5.2 trillion Korean won)."

This project aims to replace the U.S.-made M113 armored vehicles, which were introduced to the Australian military in the 1960s. If the contract is signed, the Australian military will begin subsequently deploying 129 units of Redback from the second half of 2027. In a bid to win this project, global advanced defense companies, such as General Dynamics' 'Ajax' from the U.S., BAE Systems' 'CV90' from the U.K., and Rheinmetall's 'Lynx' from Germany, competed with Redback. Redback and Lynx were selected as the final candidates in September 2019.

Redback is the first weapon system planned and developed for export by a domestic defense company, Hanwha Aerospace. It was developed based on the accumulated technology and experience in the field of ground equipment, including self-propelled artillery and armored vehicles. Unlike weapons developed to meet domestic military demands and later considered for export, Redback was created with the goal of export right from the start.


Do-Young Kwak now@donga.com