IFV cooperation tapped as cornerstone for upgrading Australia-South Korea strategic alliance

Highlights:

• The ROK National Assembly held a forum on how to expand bilateral cooperation on economy and defence.
• Calls are growing that Seoul and Canberra further accelerate economic and security partnerships as major trade partners as well as military allies in the Indo-Pacific region.
• Cooperation on LAND 8116 self-propelled howitzer program is a “success story”, says top Australian diplomat in Seoul, expressing hope for further collaboration on infantry fighting vehicles.
• South Korea’s Hanwha has invested to build an advanced armoured vehicle production facility in Geelong, a commitment to contributing to the local economy as well as the defence capability of ADF.

Hosted by Representative Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the governing People Power Party (PPP), a parliamentary forum on Korea-Australia cooperation took place with the attendance of high-profile politicians and government leaders from both nations.

Among the participants were Representative Kim Ki-hyun, leader of the PPP; Representative Han Ki-ho of PPP, chairman of the Parliamentary Defense Committee; Her Excellency Catherine Raper, ambassador of the Australian Embassy in Korea; Oh Youngju, Second Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Lee Seung-beom, director of International Policy of the Ministry of National Defense.

A delegation of Australian parliamentary members, led by Labor MP Jerome Laxale, also joined the forum while visiting Korea as part of a parliamentary exchange program.

“Both South Korea and Australia are important trading partners and are both key allies of the United States,” Professor Kim Woosang of Political Science and Diplomacy at Yonsei University in Seoul said. Professor Kim served as Korean Ambassador to Australia from 2008–11.

“Cooperation between South Korea and Australia is a key to responding to the threats posed by China and North Korea,” Professor Kim explained, calling for plans to establish a robust defence and security framework between the two countries. He is a supporter of modelling these efforts on the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) operated by Japan and its allies, including Australia, to help facilitate shared military training and operations.

Keynote presenter Professor Park Jae-jeok from Yonsei University’s Graduate School of International Studies stressed Seoul and Canberra should expand and diversify cooperation further to a variety of fields such as natural gas, hydrogen, cyber security, science, and aerospace, leveraging the growing bilateral defence and security cooperation.

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“As open, trading nations, both Korea and Australia face growing pressures to mitigate the geo-economic risks and challenges associated with their dependence on China,” Professor Park said. “In response, both countries should pursue an economic diversification strategy aimed at reducing their external economic risks from China.”

South Korea is Australia’s third-largest trading partner and an important provider of manufactured goods, such as electronics, machinery, and capital goods. Likewise, Australia’s major exports to Korea, such as energy, raw materials, and food products, are increasingly critical to the Korean economy.

Participants at the forum paid close attention to the positive effects of construction of Hanwha’s Armoured Vehicle Centre of Excellence (H-ACE) in Geelong, Victoria. This facility is expected to serve as a cornerstone for upgrading the bilateral partnership to a strategic alliance in another level.

Hanwha Aerospace, a leading aerospace and defence manufacturer in Korea, through its local subsidiary Hanwha Defense Australia (HDA), has invested over $200 million in Australia already to support local production of self-propelled howitzers and hopefully, infantry fighting vehicles.

Built on a 150,000-square metre site near Avalon Airport in Geelong for completion in 2024, the H-ACE has a 32,000-square metre manufacturing plant; a 1.5-kilometre-long test-driving track, a firing range, EMI testing chamber, and an R&D centre.

The construction is expected to create about 600 jobs more, with greater job creation and economic ripple effects in the long run as the facility expands to work on both Australian and international programs.

“The need to work together in the region as liked minded partners is key, and to make sure that we have the capabilities to do so,” HE Catherine Raper, Australian ambassador to Korea, said.

“In that light, we very much value our relationship with Hanwha Aerospace.

“Their facility is in Geelong, which is being built for self-propelled howitzers and it’s coming along well as I understand. Production is underway at Changwon at the moment and will soon move to Geelong. This is a very important success story for Australia-Korea cooperation.”

HE Catherine Raper, Australian ambassador to Korea.

Asked about the prospect of the Land 400 Phase 3 program for next-generation infantry fighting vehicles, for which HDA’s Redback IFV is under consideration, the Australian diplomat expressed hope in working with the Korean defence industry despite the reduction in volumes in the wake of the DSR.

“Very happy to keep talking to Hanwha about that project going forward as we value that relationship highly,” she concluded.

Lee Seung-beom, director of International Policy at South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense, emphasised production of Redback IFVs in Australia would be a huge win for both sides.

“Since the signing of the AS9 SPH contract with Australia in 2021, construction of a Korean-invested production facility is underway,” Lee said.

“This is the first time overseas defence production base has been built solely by a Korean company outside of the country.

“We can achieve many things with this local production facility for Australia, such as technology transfer, continuous job creation, joint international marketing, and securing stable supply chains to support the defence capabilities of both nations.

“We are pursuing defence cooperation not just for selling weapons but for sharing our experience and knowhow of dealing with threats, trainings, operating weapons systems and others with partner nations,” Lee concluded.

Taking advantage of core technologies of the ROK K21 infantry fighting vehicle, the Redback was specifically developed to meet the operational requirements of the Australian Defence Force. The tracked vehicle features several innovative technologies such as the composite rubber track for better ride quality for soldiers and better through life support, Iron Vision 360-degree camera viewing systems, Iron Fist active protection system, the in-arm type hydro-pneumatic suspension unit to deal with high levels of armoured protection, the offboard Health and Usage Management System, and the Solar Sigma Shield technology from Tasmania’s CBG System.