Hyundai Rotem’s wheeled armored vehicle K808 (Courtesy of Hyundai Rotem)
Hyundai Rotem Co., a South Korean defense equipment and locomotive maker, has moved a step closer to exporting its wheeled armored vehicles, the Korean army’s core maneuver warfare system, for the first time.
According to the subsidiary of Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor Co. on Thursday, Fábrica de Armas y Municiones del Ejército (FAME SAC) has picked STX Corp.-Hyundai Rotem consortium as a preferred bidder for a deal to supply wheeled armored vehicles to the Peruvian Army.
FAME is Peru’s state-owned company manufacturing weapons and ammunition under the country’s Ministry of Defense.
Once Hyundai Rotem signs a binding contract with FAME later this month, the Korean company will export an initial batch of 30 units of its K808 wheeled armored vehicles, worth about $60 million, to Peru and then up to 120 units later.
It would mark Hyundai Rotem’s first overseas exports of its wheeled armored vehicles, as well as Korea’s first armored vehicle sales to Latin America.
The Korean weapon system maker expects the contract would pave the way for more similar deals from the region where demand for armored vehicles is on a rise in line with the growing terrorist attack risk and threat to public safety.
KOREA’S KEY ARMY WEAPON SYSTEM
The K808 is an eight-wheeled infantry transport vehicle that replaces the K511A1, also known as the Army Truck, used by the Korean Army.
Hyundai Rotem said its armored vehicles are fit for the rugged terrain and challenging paths of Peru, known as the Roof of South America.
Hyundai Rotem’s wheeled armored vehicle K808 (Courtesy of Hyundai Rotem)
As the K808 is a wheeled armored vehicle, its eight wheels are independently driven and are suitable for climbing hills and traversing rough terrain.
The K808 can traverse obstacles up to 40 centimeters high and navigate trenches up to 1.5 meters deep, with a water jet that enables it to cross shallow rivers easily, according to the company.
Its tactical tires are equipped with an automatic air pressure adjustment device called CTIS.
Under the latest deal, Hyundai Rotem is also given the right to supply the Peruvian Army with other types of maneuvering systems ranging from four and six-wheeled armored vehicles to light and heavy tactical vehicles.
STX will be in charge of delivering Hyundai Rotem-made armored vehicles to Peru.
With the latest deal, Hyundai Rotem also hopes to accelerate its inroads into the overseas defense system market.
In December 2022, it delivered 10 units of its K2 Black Panther, a next-generation battle tank, to Poland, which was part of its $3.4 billion deal to export 180 K2 tanks to the country, Korea’s first export of such battle tanks.
Three months earlier, it also agreed on a strategic partnership with Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace AS, Norway’s largest defense supplier, to jointly develop next-generation battle tanks.
In Peru, another Korean company won the biggest defense deal for a Korean company in Latin America last month.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries landed a 600 billion won ($436 million) worth of contract to build four warships for the Peruvian Navy jointly with Peru’s state-owned shipbuilder SIMA Peru S.A.
By Hyung-Kyu Kim
khk@hankyung.com
Sookyung Seo edited this article.
