How South Korean Hanwha aims to build a full spectrum land combat industry in Romania.

Hanwha Aerospace has outlined a proposal for Romania’s new infantry fighting vehicle program that would localize up to 80 percent of Redback IFV production and leverage the country’s emerging K9 artillery industrial base. The offer, which Hanwha says could deliver the entire IFV fleet by 2030, ties Bucharest’s land forces modernization to long-term domestic manufacturing capacity on NATO’s eastern flank.

Hanwha Aerospace is positioning itself as a long-term industrial partner for Romania’s land forces, stating in a new policy style communication that it can shift up to 80 percent of Redback infantry fighting vehicle production into Romanian facilities while meeting Bucharest’s ambitious fielding timeline through 2030. The proposal, framed explicitly against the European Union’s SAFE mechanism and its 65 percent local content threshold, links the ongoing K9 Thunder artillery program and a new production site in Dâmbovița to a broader tracked combat vehicle ecosystem designed to serve both national needs and export markets. For a country sitting close to the Black Sea security environment, the choice of industrial partner now becomes as important as the technical characteristics of the IFV itself.
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Hanwha’s stated approach focuses on production in Romania, technology transfer, and the participation of Romanian small and medium enterprises. (Picture source: Hanwha)

This position builds on an industrial base already under development through the K9 artillery program and the establishment of a production site in Dâmbovița intended for machining, integration, and testing of land systems. The K9 Thunder, which Romania is beginning to acquire, features a 155 mm/52-calibre gun with a range of roughly 40 km using conventional rounds and over 50 km when firing rocket-assisted munitions. The system carries nearly fifty rounds, employs a semi-automatic loading process, and can deliver three shots in fifteen seconds before maintaining a sustained rate of six to eight rounds per minute. These characteristics give Romanian artillery units modern NATO-standard fire support while creating an industrial foothold that facilitates the integration of tracked combat vehicles.

Within this framework, the Redback is presented as the mechanized element of Hanwha’s offer. The IFV uses a 1,000 hp MTU engine paired with an Allison transmission, producing speeds above 65 km/h and a range of roughly 520 km. Its chassis employs composite rubber tracks that limit noise and enhance movement over soft ground. The protection suite combines modular armour with the Iron Fist active protection system, designed to defeat incoming anti-tank rockets and missiles, while panoramic electro-optical sensors provide continuous awareness for the vehicle commander. The integration of the Elbit MT-30 turret, an evolution of the UT-30 already fielded on Romania’s Piranha 5 fleet, reduces training divergence by retaining a stabilized 30 mm cannon, airburst-compatible ammunition, and a digital fire-control system aligned with existing procedures.

The tactical and operational logic rests on coherence and logistical simplification. The shared powerpack between the K9 and Redback reduces the need for separate maintenance pipelines, enables common stocks of critical parts, and narrows the training burden for technical personnel. Vehicle crews operate within similar layouts, lowering adaptation time. The digital architecture, built for interoperability with NATO-standard command-and-control networks, allows the Redback to connect with artillery, reconnaissance drones and mechanized units, producing a more responsive decision cycle. In areas such as the approaches to Galați, where reaction time can determine the outcome of defensive actions, this networked structure offers practical advantages.

Hanwha’s stated approach focuses on production in Romania, technology transfer, and the participation of Romanian small and medium enterprises. Achieving up to 80 percent localization implies bringing hull welding, machining of key components, electronic subsystem integration, and functional testing into Romania. For Bucharest, building a domestic supply chain able to contribute to national programs and export markets aligns with its objectives for industrial autonomy and its role within the SAFE framework, where the EU prioritizes resilient and geographically diversified supply lines.

Should Romania adopt a model close to the one outlined by Hanwha, the European Union would see the emergence of a land-systems production center on its eastern flank, combining Asian-developed technologies with a European industrial environment. This development would alter the balance between established Western European suppliers and newer entrants while giving NATO a more widely distributed industrial base. In a strategic environment marked by uncertainty, Romania’s ability to structure a complete tracked-vehicle and artillery production ecosystem would contribute to regional defence stability and strengthen collective resilience around the Black Sea.