A senior US Army acquisition official inspected Hanwha Aerospace’s artillery production facilities in South Korea shortly after the company secured a contract to deliver prototype howitzers for an Army modernization program.
Hanwha said Wednesday that Brent G. Ingraham, assistant secretary of the US Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, visited its Changwon facilities in South Gyeongsang Province on Aug. 26 with a US delegation.
Ingraham is the US Army acquisition executive, who oversees more than 550 procurement programs with a combined portfolio of about $170 billion.
Before taking his current post, he held senior acquisition roles at the US Department of Defense. As deputy assistant secretary of defense for platform and weapon portfolio management, he oversaw air, surface, cyber and electronic warfare systems.
During the visit, the delegation toured Hanwha’s wheeled K9 howitzer production line and inspected automated manufacturing processes, including robotic welding used to support mass production and quality control.
Hanwha demonstrated the mobility of both wheeled and tracked K9 self-propelled howitzers. It also presented systems including the Chunmoo multiple rocket launcher, M-SAM and L-SAM air defense systems, Redback infantry fighting vehicle and Korean Vertical Launching System.
The visit followed a US Army contract awarded to Hanwha Defense USA to deliver prototype K9 Mobile Howitzers for the service’s Mobile Tactical Cannon program.
Hanwha said the delegation expressed interest in its automated production, manufacturing capabilities and management systems. The two sides also discussed expanding bilateral defense cooperation in support of US Army modernization.
“For more than 70 years, the Korea-US alliance has served as a cornerstone of peace and security, and defense cooperation has become an important pillar supporting that alliance,” Hanwha Defense USA CEO Michael Coulter said.
yejinlim@heraldcorp.com
