About a dozen South Korean companies on Monday showcased their cutting-edge military products, including an unmanned ground vehicle, border patrol drone and automatic artillery bore cleaner, at a major exhibition in Washington, amid growing prospects for defense industrial cooperation with the United States.

The Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) 2024 Annual Meeting and Exposition kicked off its three-day run Monday, bringing together more than 770 enterprises and exhibitors from over 90 countries at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Some 35,000 people are expected to join the event, organizers said.

A group of South Korean companies installed the “Korea Pavilion” as they seek to carve out a foothold in the U.S. market at a time when Washington is seeking to leverage regional allies and partners to strengthen logistical readiness under a “regional sustainment framework. The Korean exhibitors included Hanwha Aerospace Co., Poongsan Corp., Korea Defense Industry Corp., Taekyung Electronics Co. and
SooSung Defense Industries Ltd.

Hanwha Aerospace displayed the K9A2, the newest variant of its K9 self-propelled howitzer equipped with an auto turret capable of handling ammunition automatically, as well as a ground uncrewed transport (GRUNT) — a hybrid electric vehicle meant to support infantry operations.

“In the midst of the rapidly changing security environment, the South Korea-U.S. alliance should move forward on a path to strengthening bilateral defense industrial cooperation, and through this, we believe the alliance can be further solidified,” Jeff Sung, director of communications at Hanwha Aerospace, told Yonhap News Agency.

“The two countries have already been developing interoperability through combined exercises, and based on this, we can create a synergistic effect in technological cooperation and development, as well as the maintenance, repair and overhaul sector, which could serve as a catalyst for regional security,” he added.

Source: Yonhap News Agency