Defense Acquisition Program Administration Chief: "Redback Possible for Export to Australia"... National Assembly Urges "Cautious Disclosure"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Eom Dong-hwan, Administrator of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), stated that "there is a high possibility that the Redback armored vehicle will be exported to Australia."

On the 31st, Administrator Eom appeared before the National Assembly's National Defense Committee and explained, "We are currently preparing to export the Redback (armored vehicle) to Australia, and the Australian side expects that the preferred negotiation partner will be selected by September."

The Redback, developed by Hanwha Defense, is a state-of-the-art infantry fighting vehicle characterized by its 'active protection system' that can detect and neutralize enemy anti-tank missile attacks in advance. Following the export contract for K-9 self-propelled howitzers worth up to 1.09 trillion KRW signed with Australia last December, the company is now pushing for the export of the Redback armored vehicle.

Regarding the arms export implementation contract signed with the Polish government, Administrator Eom added, "On the 26th, we completed the implementation contract for 180 K2 tanks, and the overall contract includes 1,000 units." He further stated, "It is estimated that the remaining quantity, excluding the 180 units, will be contracted through local production."

In response to this report from the DAPA Administrator, some lawmakers urged caution in publicly disclosing defense industry exports, considering the international situation and the fluidity of contracts.

Assemblyman Ahn Kyu-baek of the Democratic Party pointed out, "Every country has adversarial nations and intense conflicts, so most keep silent when exporting and refer to it as defense cooperation."

In fact, it has been reported that the Australian government prefers that the review of Korean armored vehicle acquisition not be disclosed to the media. The Redback completed the final test evaluation last October for the Australian Army's cutting-edge tracked infantry fighting vehicle acquisition project (LAND 400 Phase 3) and is currently competing with Germany's Rheinmetall for the preferred negotiation partner selection scheduled for the second half of this year. The total project scale is known to be 7.5 billion USD (9.7 trillion KRW).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.