US Army orders more K9MH howitzers to test faster shoot-and-scoot tactics before replacing M777s.

The U.S. Army awarded Hanwha Defense USA an expanded prototype agreement under the Mobile Tactical Cannon-Wheeled program to deliver additional K9 Mobile Howitzer units for evaluation. This acquisition supports ongoing artillery modernization efforts aimed at replacing towed systems with mobile, protected platforms capable of sustained operational rates. The technical evaluation focuses on assessing integration parameters, mobility benchmarks, and ammunition handling capabilities across tactical formations.

The expanded prototyping agreement increases the contracted fleet size from six to nine K9 Mobile Howitzer vehicles under a framework carrying a maximum cumulative value of $262,903,274. The near-40-tonne 8x8 platform integrates a 155 mm/52-caliber CN98 cannon, automated ammunition handling, and a three-person crew compartment to evaluate tactical mobility and firing performance.

Related topic: South Korea’s K9MH Wheeled Howitzer Makes US Army Debut in Bid for Major Artillery Modernization Program

The K9MH is an 8×8 self-propelled howitzer combining a 155 mm/L52 cannon with a three-person crew, an autoloader, 40 onboard projectiles, and the ability to fire and leave its position in less than 30 seconds. (Picture source: Hanwha Aerospace)

On October 6, 2026, Inside Defense revealed that, on September 24, 2026, the U.S. Army ordered three additional K9 Mobile Howitzer prototypes from Hanwha Defense USA under the Mobile Tactical Cannon-Wheeled program, increasing the number of vehicles under contract from six to nine, according to Hanwha Defense USA COO and President of Land Systems Mike Smith. The additional award followed the Army's initial August 18 agreement for six K9MH prototypes, valued at $100,302,961 and carrying options for 12 additional vehicles, with a maximum cumulative value of $262,903,274 over an estimated four-year prototyping and Soldier-experimentation period. The September 24 action therefore exercised three of the 12 options, or 25%, increased the contracted quantity by 50% in 37 days, and left nine additional units available under the agreement. 

The Mobile Tactical Cannon (MTC) program emerged from more than five years of attempts by the U.S. Army to increase the mobility, range, and firing rate of its 155 mm artillery without developing another entirely new cannon system. In 2020 and 2021, the U.S. Army evaluated available self-propelled howitzers at Yuma Proving Ground, but subsequently concentrated resources on the XM1299 ERCA, which combined an M109A7 chassis with the XM907 cannon and pursued ranges approaching 70 km. The Army halted the XM1299 approach in 2024 after testing exposed excessive cannon wear, then shifted toward mature self-propelled systems already available. The resulting MTC formally continued work that began in fiscal 2024 and paired the cannon with a dedicated Resupply Vehicle.

By 2025-2026, the Army had narrowed part of that effort toward a wheeled system intended to replace M777 towed howitzers in selected formations. MTC has since broadened into two distinct vehicle tracks: MTC-W for the wheeled M777 replacement and MTC-T, launched separately in 2026 to examine a tracked 155 mm self-propelled howitzer for armored formations. On August 18, 2026, the U.S. Army awarded Hanwha Defense USA the competitive MTC-W prototype agreement, initially ordering six K9MHs with options for 12 more under a $100.303 million initial action and $262.903 million maximum value, but has not authorized serial production or operational fielding.

The K9MH is a near-40-tonne 8×8 self-propelled howitzer equipped with a CN98 155 mm/L52 cannon, a three-person crew, automated ammunition handling, 40 projectiles and 192 modular propellant charges. Its demonstrated performance includes nine rounds fired in 59 seconds, an 8 to 9 rounds/minute maximum firing rate, firing preparation in roughly 20 to 30 seconds, displacement in less than 30 seconds, 100 km/h road speed, and roughly 700 km road range. The U.S. Army will use the expanded fleet to evaluate whether the K9MH can replace M777 towed 155 mm howitzers in selected formations while meeting requirements for reliability, supportability, ammunition resupply, and sustained battery-level operations. Still, nine vehicles remain a small experimental fleet relative to the earlier MTC requirement approaching 498 to 500 howitzers.

The K9MH is not a tracked K9 with wheels substituted for tracks. It combines a rear unmanned artillery module with an armored forward crew compartment, four firing stabilizers and a third-generation Tatra Force 8×8 chassis, producing a howitzer close to 12 m long, 3.4 m wide and 2.73 m high at nearly 40 tonnes. Its CN98 L52 cannon has a nominal 8.06 m tube, while projectile selection, projectile transfer, charge selection, loading, and gun laying are automated. All three crew members remain in the forward compartment instead of operating inside the artillery module. Compared with the tracked K9, this significantly reduces onboard manpower: six K9MHs require 18 personnel instead of 30 for the K9 Thunder, 18 guns require 54 instead of 90, and 500 guns would require 1,500 instead of 2,500.

Automation could therefore remove 1,000 crew positions across a 500-K9 Thunder force, although ammunition, maintenance, recovery, command and communications personnel remain necessary. As onboard capacity would reach 20,000 projectiles, sustained fire will depend heavily on ammunition vehicles, particularly because the U.S. Army determined that existing M1083 and M1084 FMTVs could not provide the replenishment rate required for sustained MTC operations. Against the M777, the central exchange is weight and transportability for independent movement and shorter firing-position exposure. The M777 can be moved as a lightweight towed weapon, including by helicopter, but the K9MH combines the gun, crew, ammunition, and propulsion system on one vehicle.

Its wheeled configuration produces measurable gains and penalties. The K9MH reaches roughly 100 km/h and 700 km on roads, compared with roughly 60 km/h and 360 km for the tracked K9, increasing speed by 67% and range by 94%. This can reduce reliance on heavy equipment transporters during long road movements, but the weight is distributed through eight tires rather than tracks, affecting movement and recovery on mud, soft soil and severely broken terrain. Alternative carriers therefore require more than sufficient payload capacity: axle ratings, braking, frame rigidity, hydraulics, electrical output and recoil stabilizers must support the complete artillery installation. The U.S. Army must also compare road speed and range against cross-country mobility, tire consumption, fuel demand and recovery requirements.

Industrial capacity presents a larger scaling problem than the current nine-vehicle order. Hanwha's Opelika, Alabama, Phase I facility operates under a three-year lease backed initially by more than $2 million and is intended for K9 integration and testing rather than established full-rate production. Moving from 18 prototypes to 500 guns would require at least 500 heavy truck chassis, artillery modules, barrels, autoloaders, engines, transmissions, and fire control sets, plus spares and support equipment. Producing 500 K9MHs over five years would require an average of 100 vehicles annually, or 8.3 per month; four years would require 125 annually, or 10.4 per month. Hanwha can draw on a K9 family exceeding 2,500 fielded systems and localization experience outside the United States, but a U.S. production decision would still require defined domestic suppliers, barrel capacity, chassis sourcing, depot maintenance, and surge output. The relevant industrial measure is therefore annual sustainable output, not whether nine prototype vehicles can be integrated.

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Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, South Korea, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.