Hanwha Defence Australia has announced that it will team with Kongsberg Defence Australia on the Australian Army’s LAND 8116 Phase 1 Protected Mobility Fires requirement.

Under the teaming, KONGSBERG will be Hanwha’s command, control, communications, and computing (C4) integration partner for the AS9 Huntsman self-propelled howitzer (SPH) and AS10 ammunition carrier that will be acquired for LAND 8116. Hanwha was issued a sole-source RFT in early September for LAND 8116.

“The cooperation between Hanwha and KONGSBERG has already proven to be highly successful for the recent Norwegian ‘Vidar’ K9 and K10 Program, and in the delivery of K9 vehicles to Finland and Estonia,” Managing Director of Hanwha Defense Australia, Richard Cho said in a statement.

“The selection of KONGSBERG as a central part of our Land 8116 Ph 1 industry team will make a very important contribution to Hanwha’s capacity to deliver effective capability for the ADF while fulfilling our extensive Australian Industry Capability commitments,” he said.

“Project Land 8116 provides another great opportunity for KONGSBERG to transfer world leading and proven C4 systems to Australian industry and enable sovereign capability,” Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace Executive Vice President and Chairman of Kongsberg Defence Australia, Kjetil R Myhra added. “We will support our landed company Kongsberg Defence Australia and our local partners to meet the objectives of the recently released Land Combat and Protected Vehicles Industry Plan.”

General Manager of Kongsberg Defence Australia, John Fry said, “Together with Hanwha Defence Australia, KONGSBERG is committed to the establishment of a sovereign industry capability to support the Australian Protected Mobile Fires capability throughout its service life. We’ll continue to source as much C4 hardware as possible through Australian and New Zealand-based suppliers.”

KONGSBERG’s ODIN fire support system is widely used in NATO and US forces, and will form the basis of the Huntsman’s C4 system. The company has said it will establish a local software support and test environment to support LAND 8116 and other programs in Australia and the region.