The U.S. Army is pursuing a major program to replace its current 155mm M777 towed howitzers with wheeled self-propelled systems. Hanwha’s U.S. unit, Hanwha Defense USA, said last month it had proposed the K9MH for the program.
The company is also reviewing plans to produce the system in Alabama if selected, and is reportedly planning to invest about $1.3 billion to build an ammunition plant in Arkansas.
The K9MH is based on Hanwha’s flagship K9 self-propelled howitzer platform. It mounts a fully automated K9 turret on an 8×8 chassis from Tatra Trucks, a widely used solution for wheeled artillery, reducing the crew to three. Compared with the tracked K9, it is seen as offering lower maintenance costs and greater strategic mobility.
Although not from official sources, footage filmed at a test site in Changwon, South Korea, has circulated on overseas social media, showing live-fire exercises of the K9MH.
The video includes ammunition loading and firing sequences, demonstrating a dual-feed system that transports projectiles and propellant charges via separate conveyors. The system showed a firing cycle of about 7.5 seconds, delivering nine rounds per minute.
Ukrainian defense outlet Defense Express said the K9MH’s performance is comparable to Sweden’s Archer artillery system, one of the leading automated wheeled howitzers, which typically fires eight to nine rounds per minute with a loading cycle of around eight to nine seconds. It added that the K9MH could outperform Germany’s RCH 155 in terms of reload speed.
However, the outlet noted that the Archer retains an advantage in deployment speed. The Archer takes about 23 seconds to fire its first round after stopping and 34 seconds to leave position, compared with roughly 20 seconds and 50 seconds, respectively, for the K9MH.
The U.S. Army is expected to select candidates for the next phase of the program in July, with a final decision scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2027. Other contenders include Rheinmetall’s RCH 155, Elbit America’s Sigma, and BAE Systems’ Archer.
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