Australia Tests First Locally Produced AS9 Huntsman 155mm Howitzer to Advance Mobile Artillery.

Australia’s first domestically produced AS9 Huntsman self-propelled howitzer fired 155mm rounds at Puckapunyal Training Area in Victoria after Army artillery training. The milestone moves a locally built tracked artillery system from Geelong production into live training, strengthening protected mobile fires for allied operations in the Indo-Pacific.

Soldiers from Townsville’s 4th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, fired the Australian-built AS9 during live-fire serials linked to an Army School of Artillery operator course. The event marks a practical step in replacing parts of Australia’s towed M777 fire-support fleet with a protected 155mm tracked howitzer able to fire and rapidly displace before counter-battery threats can respond.

Related News: Australia Officially Receives Its First AS9 Huntsman Vehicles from South Korea

The AS9 is a self-propelled howitzer, not a towed gun, and this distinction changes the way Australian artillery can fight (Picture source: Australian MoD)

Australia’s first domestically produced AS9 Huntsman self-propelled howitzer fires at Puckapunyal Training Area in Victoria after an Army School of Artillery course, moving the new 155mm tracked artillery system from Geelong production into live training in only a few months. The Australian Defence Department reports on 4 June 2026 that the firing involves Townsville’s 4th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, and marks a practical step in replacing towed fire support with protected mobile artillery.

Thirty gunners complete the six-week introduction into service course, while a battery from 4th Regiment finishes the first AS9 operator training cycle. The event matters because it shifts the Australian Army toward an artillery model built around faster displacement, digital fire control, and crew protection under armour.

The AS9 Huntsman is delivered under LAND 8116 Phase 1, the Protected Mobile Fires program, with Hanwha Defence Australia contracted to supply 30 AS9 self-propelled howitzers and 15 AS10 armoured ammunition resupply vehicles. The acquisition gives Australia a tracked 155mm artillery vehicle derived from South Korea’s K9 family but adapted for Australian Army requirements, including local integration, protection features, and compatibility with national command and fire-control systems.

The AS9 is a self-propelled howitzer, not a towed gun, and this distinction changes the way Australian artillery can fight. It combines a 155mm 52-calibre main ordnance with a tracked armoured hull, a turreted gun system, onboard fire-control equipment, and a five-person crew. With a combat weight below 52 tonnes, a length of about 12.4 metres including the turret, a width of 3.5 metres, and a height of 3.7 metres, the vehicle sits in the heavy mobile artillery category while retaining road speeds above 60 km/h.

Its armament package is built around the 155mm 52-calibre gun, giving crews the ability to deliver high-volume indirect fire at extended range. The vehicle can also be fitted with pintle-mounted or remote weapon station options, including 5.56mm and 7.62mm machine guns, a 12.7mm heavy machine gun, and a 40mm automatic grenade launcher depending on configuration. These secondary weapons are not the core of the system, but they matter for local protection when batteries move, disperse, or operate near contested ground.

Training at Puckapunyal shows how this change is felt at the crew level. Soldiers learn the hull and turret systems, qualify as loaders, drivers, assistant gunners, gunners, and commanders, and conduct driving phases that include night movement and hatch-down drills. Compared with the M777 towed howitzer, the AS9 reduces the manual work needed to bring the gun into action and lets crews lay the weapon through onboard systems.

For Australian gunners, this is more than a new artillery vehicle. It changes the tempo of a fire mission. A towed gun normally demands emplacement, alignment, exposure of the detachment, and withdrawal by the prime mover. A tracked self-propelled howitzer arrives under armour, fires from a shorter setup cycle, and relocates before enemy sensors can close the counter-battery chain.

Operationally, the AS9 gives the Australian Army a better answer to counter-battery warfare and dispersed manoeuvre. It supports shoot-and-scoot fires, protects crews against fragments and small arms threats, and keeps ammunition resupply closer to the gun line through the AS10 armoured ammunition resupply vehicle. In northern Australia or coalition training areas, this improves artillery endurance and allows batteries to support manoeuvre units without sitting static in predictable firing points.

The industrial angle is also central. LAND 8116 creates tracked combat vehicle assembly and testing capacity in Australia, with production centred on Hanwha’s facility in the Geelong region. For Canberra, this is not only procurement. It is an attempt to hold more knowledge, repair capacity, and upgrade authority inside Australia at a time when artillery ammunition and armoured vehicle supply chains remain under pressure globally.

The Huntsman enters service alongside wider Australian Army modernization, including M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams main battle tanks and AS21 Redback infantry fighting vehicles. The wider implication reaches beyond Australia. A sovereign AS9 production and sustainment base links Canberra to South Korea’s K9 user community while giving the Australian Defence Force a more credible land fires contribution to allied deterrence in the Indo-Pacific. In a region where long distances, maritime chokepoints, and missile threats shape every military plan, protected mobile artillery strengthens Australia’s ability to defend its approaches, support coalition operations, and reduce dependence on fragile wartime supply lines.

Written By Erwan Halna du Fretay - Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Erwan Halna du Fretay holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and has experience studying conflicts and global arms transfers. His research interests lie in security and strategic studies, particularly the dynamics of the defense industry, the evolution of military technologies, and the strategic transformation of armed forces.