U.S. Army takes delivery of first Korean-built wheeled howitzer

The U.S. Army has received its first Mobile Tactical Cannon, a wheeled 155 mm howitzer built by Hanwha Defense USA that the service is testing as a replacement for the towed M777, less than a year after it first asked industry for proposals.

Brig. Gen. Robert “RJ” Mikesh Jr., the Army’s portfolio management executive for offensive fires, told reporters on Oct. 8 ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual meeting that the cannon had been on display at an “Army Modernization Day” on Capitol Hill earlier this month, Military Times reported.

“We’re excited to have that and get ready to test it,” said Mikesh. “And get that soldier feedback, that we think is so important.”

The Army picked Hanwha in August under an Other Transaction Authority agreement, a faster contracting route for prototypes. The four-year deal is worth about $100.3 million to start and up to roughly $263 million if all options are used. It calls for six prototypes to be delivered quickly, with options for 12 more, for testing and experiments with soldiers. Hanwha beat a crowded field that included BAE Systems, General Dynamics Land Systems, American Rheinmetall, a Leonardo DRS and KNDS team, and an Elbit Systems of America, Anduril and Oshkosh team.

The Mobile Tactical Cannon is Hanwha’s K9 Mobile Howitzer, an eight-wheeled version of the tracked K9 that has served with the South Korean Army since 1999. K9 variants are now used by about 10 other countries, and Hanwha says more than 2,500 have been fielded worldwide. The company is building an integration and test site in Opelika, Alabama, to develop and deliver the howitzers in the United States.

“What enabled that was this close partnership under the PAE construct and trying new and novel ways of contracting,” said Mikesh. “In this case, we were not going after a clean-sheet design; we were looking for mature and available technologies. We opened our aperture for companies around the world, knowing that they’d have to onshore production within two years. That howitzer is now on contract.”

The new gun is meant to give units more range and protection than the M777, a lightweight towed howitzer the Army has used since 2005 that must be hitched to a truck and set up by its crew. The M777 can hit targets out to about 24 km (15 miles) with standard rounds and about 40 km (25 miles) with the Excalibur guided shell. The K9’s longer 52-caliber barrel can reach more than 60 km (37 miles), and a self-propelled gun can fire and move before counter-battery fire arrives.

The Army plans to field the cannon first to Stryker brigade combat teams, then to Mobile and Infantry brigade combat teams. It also wants to use the prototypes in its 155mm Artillery Propulsion Modernization project, which is testing new propellants, charges and ignition systems to hit targets out to 70 km (43 miles). In late August the Army issued a separate solicitation for a tracked version of the Mobile Tactical Cannon, which Hanwha has said it will also pursue.

Army leaders want a ready version of the Mobile Tactical Cannon fielded by 2031.