K9 Thunder | Vajra | Artillery Gun | Indian Army | Indian Artillery Core | Indian Defence Forces
The K9 Thunder is a South Korean self-propelled 155 mm howitzer designed and developed by the Agency for Defense Development and Samsung Aerospace Industries for the Republic of Korea Armed Forces, and is now manufactured by Hanwha Defense. K9 howitzers operate in groups with the K10 automatic ammunition resupply vehicle variant. The entire K9 fleet operated by the ROK Armed Forces is now undergoing upgrades to K9A1 standard, and a further development of a K9A2 variant is in process.
The K9 Thunder saw its first combat during the bombardment of Yeonpyeong on 23 November 2010. Six ROKMC howitzers engaged against the surprise attack from the North Korean artillery.
Prior to the battle, the howitzers returned from a scheduled firing exercise, using most of the shells stored within the howitzer. In addition, one howitzer experienced a problem during the exercise when a shell became stuck in the barrel, disabling it. Two units received slight damage to their firing control systems during the initial North Korean attack, meaning only three out of the six units were able to counterattack. Eventually, the howitzer that had barrel problems joined the second counterattack after receiving field repairs. The K9s fired only one shell every 1.5 minutes, because the marines had to carry the shells from the armory and manually load the howitzer under heavy fire after exhausting B/L rounds.
K9 is an indigenous system of an all-welded steel armour construction which is rated to withstand 14.5 mm armour piercing rounds, 152 mm shell fragments, and anti-personnel mines. The main armament consists of a 155 mm/52 caliber ordnance with a maximum firing range of 40 km, the K307 BB-HE projectile propelled by the K676 top charge has a muzzle velocity of 928 m/s (3,040 ft/s). State-of-the-art mobility subsystems include a 1,000 horsepower (750 kW) engine with potential for growth and hydropneumatic suspension unit, a requirement for Korea's rugged mountainous terrain.
It was designed to give the artillery arm of the Republic of Korea Army a significant improvement in capability. With a claimed range of 75 km, it offers greater mobility, longer range, higher rate of fire, and increased battlefield survivability, as it can quickly be brought into action, open fire, and come out of action. It is less likely to be engaged by counter-battery fire, by relying on shoot-and-scoot. The unit also supports full CBRN protection.
In June 2016, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) revealed they were designing a new fully automatic projectile-and-charge loading system that will be retrofitted to the K9, essentially giving it a robotic turret. The purpose is to reduce the crew needed to operate the vehicle to two in order to mitigate personnel losses expected to be suffered during North Korean attacks.
Hanwha Techwin joined hand with Indian conglomerate Larsen and Toubro Limited to supply 100 K9-T guns (known in India as K-9 Vajra) for the Indian Army Howitzer competition.
In September 2015, Larsen and Toubro emerged as the finalist for a US$800 million contract to supply 100 self-propelled howitzers to the Indian Army. The vehicle is the K9 VAJRA-T, a variant of the K9 specially designed for operation in the desert areas. By January 2020, more than half of K-9 Vajra guns had already been delivered to the Indian army ahead of schedule.
10 units were bought from South Korea and assembled by L&T in India and were handed over to the Indian Army during Defexpo 2018. Remainder of the 100 are being produced by Larsen & Toubro for the Indian Army. As of 16 January 2020, 51 units have been delivered.
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