The artillery fist grows stronger. Kosiniak-Kamysz: Poland already has over 200 K9 gun howitzers

Another delivery of 21 K9 self-propelled howitzers has been delivered to the Polish Army – informed the Deputy Prime Minister and head of the Ministry of National Defense, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, on Sunday. As he pointed out, this means that Polish artillerymen have already received a total of over 200 of the almost 700 planned howitzers.

Kosiniak-Kamysz announced another delivery of equipment for the Polish Army on Sunday in a post on he wrote.

The K9 gun-howitzers produced by the South Korean company Hanwha will ultimately become one of the most common types of equipment used by Polish artillerymen. These machines, similar to the Polish Krab howitzers, were ordered for the first time in 2022 by the then head of the Ministry of National Defense, Mariusz Błaszczak, in order to quickly strengthen the Polish artillery in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and transfer a large amount of Polish equipment to the Ukrainians.

In 2022, a framework agreement was signed, providing for the delivery of a total of 672 K9 howitzers, some of which are to be Polonized to the K9PL standard. So far, two implementation contracts have been concluded for the supply of K9; the first of them, concluded in August 2022, concerned the delivery of 212 machines manufactured in South Korea in 2022-2026. This contract was worth approximately USD 2.4 billion.

Currently, deliveries of gun howitzers from the first contract are coming to an end. The second executive agreement was concluded in December 2023; concerns the delivery of another 152 gun howitzers – 146 of which are to be in the Polonized K9PL version – in the years 2025-2027 for approximately USD 2.6 billion.

The K9A1 is a South Korean self-propelled howitzer on a tracked chassis. Its main armament is one 155 mm cannon, 52 calibers long, which, depending on the type of ammunition, allows accurate fire at distances of over 40 km. The secondary armament is a 12.7 mm large-caliber machine gun. The K9 armor provides protection against small arms and artillery fragments. The drive is a 1000 HP diesel engine with automatic transmission. The weight of the howitzer is 47 tons.

The K9A1 version has a number of improvements compared to previous versions. The main emphasis was placed on increasing the effectiveness and range of fire, improving situational awareness and increasing the comfort of the crew. The K9A1 howitzers contracted under the first stage are equipped with Polish communication systems and the Polish TOPAZ battle management system integrated with the fire control system.

Currently, K9 gun howitzers are used outside Poland by several other European countries, including: in the armed forces of Estonia, Finland and Norway. (PAP)

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