Hanwha Defense 'Tigon' to Be First Used by Our Military

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Hanwha Defense's new wheeled armored vehicle, TIGON, will be deployed to the Army. TIGON is a wheeled armored vehicle aimed at export, and the Army will use it first to verify its performance before exporting it.

On the 7th, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration announced that it had signed a military trial operation agreement with the Army and three defense export companies for export-oriented weapon systems, and that trial operations would begin this month. This is a defense export support system where defense companies develop weapon systems for export, and the military operates them on a trial basis for a certain period to provide performance and operational results to the companies.

Exporting countries first check whether the Korean military uses Korean-made weapon systems to verify performance reliability when introducing them. Due to this situation, companies have proposed a system where the military trial-operates their self-developed weapon systems.

The export weapon systems covered by this agreement include a 6-wheel drive armored vehicle, a 4-wheel drive armored vehicle, and 12 types of rifles, all planned to be operated by the Army. Hanwha Defense's TIGON is scheduled to be deployed to the Army's 25th Division and Engineer Brigade. TIGON is a wheeled armored vehicle with six wheels and six axles. Each wheel can be independently driven and controlled. It can travel stably and quickly on roads like regular vehicles and provides protection against bullets and mines.

TIGON's performance has been greatly improved compared to Hanwha Defense's previously developed wheeled armored vehicle, Black Fox. The power unit of about 400 horsepower was replaced with a high-performance 525-horsepower power unit, securing mobility of over 110 km/h. It can also be equipped with various weapon systems. It can mount 12.7mm/30mm Remote Controlled Weapon Systems (RCWS), 90mm cannons, and 7.62mm secondary weapons.