On Tuesday, March 24, 2026, the Spanish group Indra and the South Korean group Hanwha signed a binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the development of state-of-the-art K9 Thunder self-propelled artillery systems tailored to the needs of the Spanish Armed Forces, which will provide Madrid with autonomy and sovereignty in the design and production of advanced tracked land platforms.
Photos: Indra
As stated in the press release, the alliance between the Indra group and South Korea’s Hanwha—one of the largest defense companies in the world—holds enormous strategic importance for Spain. The high level of technology transfer will position the country among European powers with their own capabilities to design, develop, and manufacture innovative tracked land platforms, while strengthening Spain’s technological sovereignty and strategic autonomy.
This milestone, signed at Indra’s headquarters in Madrid, marks an important step forward for the entire Spanish defense sector by establishing an exceptionally valuable bilateral partnership. The agreement also strengthens the South Korean group’s position in Europe, enabling it to integrate next-generation systems developed by Indra into its vehicles.
Ángel Escribano, Chairman of Indra, stated:
“The alliance between two major global defence leaders, Indra and Hanwha, enables us to offer the Spanish Armed Forces real sovereignty and autonomy throughout the life cycle of a new family of land platforms that did not exist until now, and which we are consolidating with the speed required in the current context.”
For his part, José Vicente de los Mozos, CEO of Indra Group, said:
“Indra, in its role as a driving force of the Spanish economy, is committed to the objective of positioning Spanish industry at the highest level, delivering the most advanced systems required by today’s Armed Forces, while leading—together with our partners—the major European defence programs now being launched.”
Jaeil Son, Preisdnet and CEO of Hanwha Aerospace, said:
“We are proud to partner with Indra to support Spain’s sovereign defence capabilities. Building on the world’s most reliable K9 platform, this collaboration brings together our advanced artillery expertise with Indra’s industrial strengths to deliver a reliable, future-oriented solution for the Spanish Armed Forces.”
The agreement was signed at Indra’s headquarters by Frank Torres, Indra’s Chief Security Officer and Managing Director of Indra Land Vehicles, and Maro Kim, Head of Indirect Fire at Hanwha Aerospace.
The planned work will require an investment of 130 million EUR to equip Indra’s facility in Gijón with new production capacity and advanced equipment, as well as a new additional integration facility in the city. The estimated workload includes the creation of 500 direct jobs and 1,000 indirect and secondary jobs, including 1,000 direct and 2,300 indirect jobs across four PEM Indra Land Vehicles units.
The solution that Indra will offer together with Hanwha for the Spanish Armed Forces under the Artillería Autopropulsada Terrestre (ATP) Cadenas program (estimated at 6.7–6.8 billion EUR) will consist of 155 mm tracked self-propelled howitzers (128 units), ammunition and support vehicles (120 units), command vehicles (11 units), and recovery vehicles (21 units). Together, these vehicles will form barrel artillery batteries within the system defined in the Special Modernization Program, developed jointly by the Indra group and Escribano Mechanical & Engineering (part of the EM&E group).
Indra will manufacture the hulls of these vehicles in Spain and equip them with: a mission system that manages vehicle operations; a 360° observation system providing advanced situational awareness; a battlefield management system (BMS) enabling interoperability and real-time coordination with other platforms; and communications systems. Indra will also fully design and manufacture command post systems, integrating its own technologies and equipping them with communications systems, protection against NBC threats, and an automatic fire extinguishing system (AFES).
Photo: Hanwha Aerospace
Frank Torres, Managing Director of Indra Land Vehicles, stated that “the agreement reached between Indra and Hanwha, two major defence companies, enables us to develop our own family of vehicles with significant commercial appeal,” adding that “this strengthens industrial capabilities, generates employment and knowledge, and ensures the technological sovereignty and autonomy of the Armed Forces.”
The project is based on vehicles from the K9 Thunder family, on which Spain will design and manufacture its own hull – under Indra’s design supervision – into which various domestic systems will be integrated to ensure industrial capabilities and create its own family of vehicles.
The platforms under development feature a high level of automation, offering a high rate of fire for long-range indirect fire, excellent accuracy, and reduced crew requirements.
Six European NATO countries – Norway, Poland, Finland, Romania, and Estonia – as well as other allies such as Australia, have adopted the same platform to equip their armed forces, demonstrating that it is among the most advanced on the market.
#IndraGroup and @Hanwha_Official sign a binding agreement for the development of innovative self-propelled artillery systems.
🔗https://t.co/j2eaE51TUl#Defence #Indra #Hanwha pic.twitter.com/njpUwF9Dbt— Indra (@IndraCompany) March 24, 2026
