NATO Countries Are Giving Ukraine Hundreds Of Their Old Howitzers—and Replacing Them With South Korea’s Excellent K-9

NATO’s eastern and northern members have been at the center of the alliance’s effort to reequip the Ukrainian army with new and better artillery.

And there’s a secret ally in this artillery coalition: South Korea, whose own K-9 self-propelled howitzer is replacing older guns in the arsenals of many NATO countries—and freeing up those guns for onward delivery to Ukraine.

Poland, Norway and Estonia all have donated older howitzers to Ukraine while acquiring K9s are replacements. A fourth NATO state—Denmark—nearly pursued the same strategy, but opted for new Israeli guns, instead. It’s a choice that has drawn some criticism.

The K-9 is a tracked, self-propelled howitzer with German and American components and firing NATO-standard 155-millimeter rounds. The South Korean Agency for Defense Development developed the 47-ton gun in the early 1990s and assigned production to a constellation of local firms.

The need was urgent. By the 1980s, the best North Korean howitzers fired farther than did South Korea’s own big guns, including a local variant of the classic American M-109.

The M-109, which still is the U.S. Army’s only self-propelled howitzer, is an accurate, reliable weapon—but it lacks range owing in large part to its stubby, 39-caliber barrel. The current M-109A7 ranges just 15 miles with conventional high-explosive shells.

The K-9 packs a much longer, 52-caliber barrel. The longer barrel translates into greater range for the same 155-millimeter shells that the M-109 fires. A K-9 can lob a conventional round 19 miles. And the South Korean gun’s superior automation means its crews also can shoot faster: typically eight rounds a minute versus four for most M-109 crews.

It should come as no surprise that the K-9 is a popular gun. It helps that South Korea has mass-produced the K-9, building around 1,300 for the South Korean army and marine corps. That drove down the unit cost to an attractive $3.1 million—nearly a million dollars less than an M-109A7 costs.

So even though the U.S. Army steadily is improving the M-109A7 with a 58-caliber barrel and rocket-assisted shells—upgrades that promise eventually to lend the American howitzer a 43-mile firing range—foreign customers have snapped up K-9s as fast as South Korean companies can build them.

The buyers include Poland, Norway and Estonia—respectively acquiring 292, 48 and 18 K-9s. The first 80 guns in Poland’s order include a lot of Polish components, justifying a new name: “Krab.”

Those hundreds of K-9s made redundant a whole lot of old M-109s and other self-propelled and towed howitzers. When Russia widened its war on Ukraine starting in February 2022, Poland, Norway and Estonia began giving Ukraine many of the excess guns.

Poland handed over 22 ex-Soviet 2S1s as well as 18 older Krabs. Warsaw also sold Kyiv an additional 54 Polish-made Krabs. Norway passed along 23 surplus M-109s.

Estonia for its size actually was the most generous. The tiny Baltic state donated all 60 of its D-30 and FH-70 towed howitzers. “This takes our total military aid to Ukraine over one percent of our GDP,” Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas noted.

Denmark likewise is giving Ukraine all 19 of its French-made Cesar wheeled howitzer. To replace the Cesars, Copenhagen has ordered Israeli Atmos wheeled guns.

But Denmark should follow Poland’s, Norway’s and Estonia’s leads and buy tracked howitzers such as the K-9, argued Hans Tino Hansen, the founder of Risk Intelligence, a Danish security firm.

Wheels are great for road deployments, but tracks are better for cross-country movement. “A NATO heavy infantry brigade requires tracked, armored self-propelled howitzers,” Hansen tweeted. “This means that it does not make sense to equip the brigade with wheel-based artillery.”

It’s unclear whether the Danish government intends to reconsider its artillery decision and give the K-9 another chance. Regardless, the South Korean howitzer already has done NATO, and Ukraine, a huge favor—by enabling a trio of countries to donate nearly 200 older guns.