Hanwha Defense Systems, a giant conglomerate from South Korea, exhibited a proposed solution to Australia’s quest for 450 new IFVs to replace its M113AS4 fleet under Project Land 400 Phase 3 at Land Forces 2018 in Adelaide.
The company showed a scale model of the AS21 Redback. As its name suggests, the AS21 is an Australian specification version based on the K21 used by the Republic of Korea Army. It therefore employs proven components and subsystems.
Hanwha said: ‘The AS21 offers a higher level of protection, superior firepower and multispectral sensors.’
Different variants will be available, but the model at Land Forces showed an IFV with a manned turret armed with a 30mm cannon, an RWS with 12.7mm machine gun and a pop-up dual antitank missile launcher.
At 40t the AS21 is considerably heavier than the K21 thanks to better ballistic protection, and its dimensions are also greater, said Park Yoowon, Hanwha’s senior manager of BD for Europe and Australia.
Park also highlighted the presence of an active protection system.
It is powered by a 1,000hp engine with a top road speed of 70km/h, and the suspension and transmission are also upgraded to cater to the greater weight. Its range is listed as 520km.
It will accommodate eight dismounts and require a crew of three.
Hanwha said it could have a prototype ready by Q3 of 2020 in accordance with the indicative timeline laid out by the Australian Defence Force, if it is shortlisted 12 months prior to that.
This will be the first major competition in which Hanwha has participated in Australia. Of course, Samsung Techwin, which Hanwha has since absorbed, entered the K9 in Australia’s Project Land 17 quest to find an SPH. However, that competition was suddenly cancelled in 2012.
For Land 400 Phase 3, Hanwha will therefore face an uphill battle against other OEMs such as BAE Systems, General Dynamics and Rheinmetall who all have an established presence in Australia.
Hanwha is therefore believed to be in discussions with partners and state governments in Australia that could be part of the supply chain.
In Adelaide the South Korean manufacturer was also highlighting its K9 to Australia, highlighting the range of countries such as Finland, India, Norway and Turkey that have purchased the SPH platform.