Export opportunities for Redback as UK, Romania express interest

The selection of the tracked Hanwha Redback for LAND 400 Phase 3 has placed the company – and particularly its Australian subsidiary – in a strong position for follow-up orders.

Hanwha Redback Infantry Fighting Vehicle. Picture: Department of Defence

Despite the sedate pace of many Australian evaluations of military hardware, our processes have a good international reputation for technical thoroughness. This is especially true for military vehicles, which, prior to a competitive selection, are the subject of a punishing series of extended engineering tests and trials that seek to verify – or disprove – claims made by manufacturers.

The selection of the tracked Hanwha Redback for LAND 400 Phase 3 has placed the company – and particularly its Australian subsidiary – in a strong position for follow-up orders. When the Cold War ended in the early 1990s the international demand for heavily armoured Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFV) shrunk rapidly and development of new platforms ground to a halt.

A noticeable exception to this trend was South Korea, which experienced no peace dividend from the collapse of the Soviet Union because its main threat remained from the north.

This meant that rather than reducing defence spending, it continued to increase – which is a partial explanation why companies such as Hanwha and Korea Aerospace Industries are now having tremendous export success as the world continues to react to Russia’s shock invasion of Ukraine.

The Redback is not yet under contract in Australia – that is on schedule to occur by the end of the year – but already there has been strong overseas interest in the vehicle. Some of this has come from surprising quarters such as Romania, which is in the process of dramatically recapitalising its armed forces. This is probably because nearby Poland and fellow NATO member is showing the way for eastern Europe with many purchases from Korea, including self-propelled howitzers, multiple launch rocket systems and combat jets.

The potential exists for a win-win with offshore assembly of Huntsman and Redback but with a significant amount of specialised Australian components and materiel

Another country showing interest is the UK, whose more immediate need is for 155mm self-propelled howitzers, of which the Huntsman being built by Hanwha for the Australian Army at their new facility at Avalon airport is a competitor. Huntsman and Redback have several common technologies, such as the same engine and transmission. They also share some local suppliers too, such as Wollongong-based Bisalloy for specialised steel armour plate.

Currently there is an enormous discrepancy between the amount of military hardware that we purchase from the UK – billions of dollars of warships and jet trainer aircraft – compared with nothing in return. One of the stated aims of the AUKUS agreement is to harmonise the industrial bases of the participating counties.

While there are almost no remaining niches in the US market – basically they make everything themselves – that is not the case for the UK, which has a few gaps: for example, they no longer produce the steel for armoured vehicles. This means the potential exists for a win-win with offshore assembly of Huntsman and Redback but with a significant amount of specialised Australian components and materiel.

As the UK also hopes to sell us the future AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine worth tens of billions of dollars, there might be an additional incentive to buy Australian military products now.