Let's talk about more visits from the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA)
The Defense Acquisition Program Administration, led by Vice-Minister Kang Hwan-seok, attended CANSEC 2025 and the 'Korea-Canada Defence Cooperation Forum' hosted by the Canadian Institute of International Affairs (CGAI) this week.
This comes about two weeks after DAPA had a visit to the country where they signed a new MOU with the CGAI and met with officials from the DND, CAF, and PSPC. I wrote about those meetings after they happened.
This round of meetings included a tour of CANSEC, where DAPA representatives engaged in discussions with Canadian companies including CAE, TeleSAT, and Bombardier.
There was a heavy emphasis in this placed on CAE, who has not only partnered with Hanwha on the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project but is also the Prime Contractor on Canada's Fighter Lead-In Training project.
DAPA used this time to promote the TA-50 training aircraft to CAE to fulfill Canada’s future fighter trainer requirements. The two also discussed future cooperation in regard to CPSP as the project readies for its next step.
Officials also met with Judith Bennett, Deputy Assistant Minister for Defence Materiel where “We proposed providing support for all stages of the life cycle (Total Solution) and discussed comprehensive cooperation plans including submarine operation maintenance and crew training.”
Beyond that, DAPA also put considerable focus on the K9 Howitzer. As many will know, Hanwha showed off both its traditional tracked K9 as well as the new wheeled variant. This included discussions on the K9’s capabilities as well as ways the K9 and its munitions could be locally produced in Canada.
It should be noted that ahead of the expected HIMARS award, officials have quietly pushed Chunmoo out of the spotlight, replaced by the T-50 as one of the big three alongside KSS-III and K9.
DAPA weren’t the only people around though. Vice Admiral Kang Dong-gil, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Military Support Headquarters, and officials from the Ministry of National Defense were also in town to meet with officials.
The delegation met with Senator Yonah Martin, Senator Michael MacDonald, and Senator John McNair to exchange views on ways to expand industrial cooperation in line with the policy (ITB) that provides benefits to Canadian industry. The delegation also had in-depth discussions on ways to train personnel for cooperation with shipyards.
Those of you who remember earlier this year will remember a Memorandum of Understanding regarding cooperation in training between the Korean and Canadian shipbuilding industries. This builds off of those early discussions and something official is expected to be signed in the next few months.
This is, again, the second such trip in the last two weeks. There are set to be several more high-level meetings in the summer and an industry roadshow in October. These trips are setting the stage for things to come, with K-Defence taking a particularly aggressive streak this year in promoting themselves.
Of course, this is to be expected. While Hanwha has done well with KSS-III, they have been effectively pushed out of LRPF thanks to the upcoming FMS of HIMARS. That is a major project that is seemingly lost.
On the other hand, K9 has tough competition. AGM/RCH is quickly becoming the NATO standard and has found a major partner in GDLS-C, who has already put it together as part of a repackaged ‘LAV Family’ proposal.
That is an extremely tough nut to crack, especially when the RFI was very clearly aiming for RCH. Everyone knows that. This makes IFM a very uphill battle for someone like Hanwha. They need to present a great plan to really convince.
One way they can do this is by making sure to work with partners like Mercedes-Benz early to integrate the K9 turret onto the Zetros chassis or Rheinmetall and the HX. Both of which are suitable platforms that, with work, can fulfill our requirements and are entering service. They could also try to go to GDLS-C and see what could be done, but I’m doubtful.
Another big thing will be making sure that the A2 turret development keeps on track. The A2 is what we will want and any delay will heavily affect the bid. Smaller things, such as partnering with other ammunition manufacturers to offer rounds like BONUS or Vulcano would also be a great benefit.
Not everyone is sold on a LAV chassis for IFM, far from it, and K9 has the potential to win this with enough effort and a great package. Local manufacturing is always a great benefit I doubt others will offer as well, and for such a large order it’s something that could easily be offered.
I expect more such meetings to come shortly. It’s going to be a busy summer for the Korea-Canada relationship!
