EDEX 2025: Egypt Examines New K11-N and K12 Variants as Hanwha Pushes Mobile Coastal Defense.

Hanwha Aerospace introduced the K11 N coastal fire direction vehicle and the K12 recovery vehicle during EDEX 2025 in Cairo. The additions expand the K9 ecosystem into a mobile coastal defense role with new sensor and support capabilities.

Hanwha Aerospace used this year’s EDEX exhibition in Cairo to quietly unveil two new tracked prototypes that extend the K9 artillery line into coastal missions, according to information shared at the event. The company presented the K11-N, a navalized fire direction and surveillance vehicle equipped with a mast-mounted radar and electro-optical suite, along with the K12 recovery vehicle that is designed to keep Egypt’s growing K9 fleet moving in rough littoral terrain.
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Hanwha’s new K11-N coastal defense FDC vehicle and K12 recovery vehicle expand the K9 artillery family into a mobile land-sea fire support ecosystem (Picture source: Army Recognition Group).

The K11-N builds on the land-based K11 FDCV, itself a derivative of the K10 ammunition resupply vehicle that shares the K9 Thunder chassis and automotive systems. The original K11 was designed for Egypt as a tracked command, reconnaissance, and communications node for K9 batteries, replacing towed fire direction shelters with an armored, mobile post that can keep pace with the guns. For the naval K11-N variant shown at EDEX, Hanwha adds a telescopic mast fitted with a surface search radar and a stabilized electro-optical and infrared sensor head, turning the vehicle into a littoral surveillance and fire control platform able to track ships from the shoreline.

The concept hinges on the maturity of the K9 gun system. The 155 mm/52 caliber K9A1 already offers ranges beyond 40 km with extended range shells and has been demonstrated firing precision munitions such as the Excalibur round out to roughly 50 km with very high accuracy. In a coastal role, the K11-N would detect, classify, and continuously track surface targets, then pass refined target coordinates and course updates over the artillery network to multiple K9 batteries. With GPS-guided projectiles, the guns can engage maneuvering corvettes, landing craft, or logistics vessels with repeated salvos while the K11-N updates the aim point between shots.

Compared with classic coastal artillery bunkers, the K11-N and its K9 partners can shoot and scoot, relocating after each mission to avoid counterfire or air attack. Compared with anti-ship missile batteries, guided 155 mm shells give commanders cheaper volume fire against dense amphibious formations or swarming small boats while still leaving the same guns available for land fire support when required. For Egypt, a K11-N/K9 architecture could cover key choke points along the Mediterranean coast and the Suez approaches without building a new missile infrastructure.

The K12 Recovery Vehicle, also shown in model form on the Hanwha stand, is meant to keep this artillery ecosystem moving. Using the same K9 tracked chassis, the K12 adds a heavyweight crane, a front-mounted earthmoving blade, and a high-capacity winch, mirroring the layout of Western armored recovery vehicles but tailored to the weight and geometry of the K9 family. In the field, a K12 would be able to recover bogged or battle-damaged howitzers, change powerpacks forward, and clear rubble or beach obstacles for artillery deployment, allowing coastal batteries to operate closer to surf zones or in heavily urbanized terrain.

For export customers beyond Egypt, the industrial logic is straightforward. More than ten nations have already selected the K9 as their main self-propelled howitzer, giving Hanwha a ready market for plug-in specialist variants that reuse the same logistics chain, training base, and depot infrastructure. Countries with long, vulnerable coastlines, such as Poland, Norway, Vietnam, or emerging Indo-Pacific clients, could use the K11-N as a mobile maritime sensor to cue both artillery and other effectors like drones or coastal missiles, while the K12 offers organic recovery support for dispersed K9 battalions without buying separate tank-grade ARVs.

Direct competitors are limited. Most modern self-propelled howitzer fleets rely either on generic army coastal radars or on naval sensors ashore rather than a purpose-built tracked FDC vehicle designed from the start for ship tracking and artillery cueing. European systems like PzH 2000 or Archer can, in theory, be networked into coastal defense architectures, but they are not paired with a dedicated maritime sensor vehicle in the way Hanwha is now proposing for the K9. The K11-N and K12, therefore, signal Hanwha’s ambition to turn the K9 family into a full-spectrum fire support ecosystem for land and sea rather than simply another gun on tracks.