South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace wins $1 bln order from Romania for self-propelled howitzers

SEOUL, – South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace said on Wednesday it won a 1.38 trillion won order from Romania to supply self-propelled howitzers.

The deal is Romania’s largest arms acquisition deal in seven years and includes 54 K9 howitzers, ammunition and 36 K10 resupply vehicles, South Korea’s largest defence company by revenue said.

The contract lasts until July 2029, Hanwha Aerospace said. The South Korean arms procurement agency, Defense Acquisition Program Administration, confirmed the details of the deal in a separate statement.

Hanwha Aerospace shares rose more than 5% to a record high in early morning trade, versus a 0.1% drop in the wider market .

Overseas orders for Hanwha have jumped since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 as countries sought to bolster their arms with quick, reliable supply, analysts said.

Hanwha’s land defence business has seen its order backlog swell to about 30 trillion won at the end of March this year from 5.1 trillion won at end-2021.

Analysts said South Korean defence firms are able to ship arms quickly with lower costs and provide continual maintenance partly due to the economy of scale from supplying the standing armed forces in South Korea, which is still technically at war with North Korea.

Hanwha now holds more than 50% share of the global market for howitzer exports, according to data by NH Investment & Securities.

“Given that the end of a war does not mean an end to the growth of defence spending, and that Trump explicitly demanded that NATO and other European countries increase their share of defence costs, opportunities are expected to expand” for South Korean defence firms, said Meritz Securities analyst Lee Ji-ho in a note on Tuesday.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.