K9 Thunder self-propelled howitzers for Spain: great news with a certain risk

Yesterday, details were revealed of a major agreement to supply self-propelled artillery systems to Spain.

The purchase by Spain of 214 new self-propelled artillery systems
Some impressive shots from SPH M-109 of the Spanish Army in immediate defense

Early this afternoon, Indra Group (Spain) and Hanwha Aerospace (South Korea) announced the signing of a binding agreement in Madrid "for the development of cutting-edge self-propelled artillery systems, adapted to the needs of the Spanish Armed Forces and which will provide Spain with autonomous capacity and sovereignty in the design and manufacture of state-of-the-art tracked land platforms."

Indra has highlighted that this agreement has "enormous strategic relevance for our country, since, thanks to the high level of associated technology transfer, it places Spain among the European powers with its own capacity for the design, development and manufacture of innovative land-based tracked platforms, also strengthening the technological sovereignty and strategic autonomy of the country".

The agreement between Indra and Hanwha includes the manufacture of 128 self-propelled howitzers based on the South Korean K9 Thunder, an artillery system used by South Korea, Australia, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Poland, Ukraine, Turkey, Egypt, and India, and which has also been selected by Romania and Vietnam. In addition, 120 ammunition resupply vehicles (likely based on the K10 ARV, pictured below), 11 command and control vehicles, and 21 recovery vehicles will be manufactured. According to a news report published by Infodefensa this morning, this agreement has the backing of the Spanish Ministry of Defense.

Let us recall that in July 2025, the Ministry of Defense announced the acquisition of new self-propelled artillery systems for the Army and the Marine Corps. Regarding tracked vehicles, the announcement included 128 self-propelled howitzers, 128 ammunition vehicles, 21 recovery vehicles, 48 ​​command vehicles for the Army, and 11 for the Navy. These figures do not match the agreement announced yesterday. As you may recall, in my article about that plan I already pointed out the K9 as one of the possible options.

The selection of the K9 Thunder by the Spanish Armed Forces is great news. It is an excellent self-propelled artillery system. In fact, Hanwha is capturing a large share of the global market for tracked self-propelled howitzers thanks to this model and, especially, to the agreements to manufacture variants adapted to the needs of each country. In addition to the howitzer itself, the South Korean firm provides technology transfer and strategic autonomy to K9 operators, making it an even better option. The South Korean firm is demonstrating a great capacity to adapt to its clients’ requirements and exchange experiences with them—a very successful market strategy.

The most troubling part of the agreement is what the Spanish firm points out below: "Indra will manufacture the hulls of the aforementioned vehicles in Spain and equip them with its mission system, which will govern the vehicle's operation; the 360º vision system, which provides superior situational awareness; the battlefield management system (BMS), which provides interoperability and facilitates real-time coordination with other platforms; and communications. Indra will design and manufacture the entire command post systems, integrating its systems, and will equip it with communications systems, CBRN equipment, and automatic fire and explosion protection systems (AFES)."

The terrible experience of the VCR Dragón shows the risk of this agreement. Let us remember that the Spanish wheeled armored vehicle is a domestic version of the Swiss MOWAG Piranha V, a good weapon system belonging to a family of armored vehicles with considerable experience and a successful track record in the market. Indra committed to delivering 70 vehicles in 2025, but only 40 arrived in January 2026, all amidst a troubled program in which the delivered units continue to experience failures, as reported today by our friends at Defensa y Seguridad.

The Spanish defense industry has great potential and has undertaken significant projects for decades, in land, air, and naval systems. However, the negative experience and delays of the VCR Dragón must be compounded by the delays of the S-80 submarines, which have severely hampered their export prospects. If Spain aspires to create its own self-propelled artillery system based on the K9 and plans to export it to other countries (especially those in Latin America), the Spanish defense industry must commit to improvements, something difficult considering the political colonization of institutions, a colonization that Indra also suffers, as we have seen these days with the government's plans to oust the current president of that company. company.

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Photos: Hanwha Aerospace.