Woori Technology Participates in Large-Scale Defense Project... "Development and Supply of HVAC Systems and Tactical Tires"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Woori Technology announced on the 5th that its defense industry subsidiaries 'KSC' and 'KRC' are participating in the development project of the Army's AI-based next-generation ground combat system's core 'wheeled command post' vehicle, developing and supplying the vehicle's air conditioning system and run-flat tires.

The wheeled command post vehicle newly introduced by the Army was ordered by Hyundai Rotem from the Defense Acquisition Program Administration in 2017 and began development, completing system development in December last year. KSC and KRC plan to develop and supply air conditioning systems and run-flat tires suitable for the wheeled command post vehicle whose system development was completed by Hyundai Rotem.

The wheeled command post vehicle enables mobile command and enhances operational capability by utilizing advanced networks to grasp real-time combat situations, making it one of the core equipment to implement the Army's AI-based next-generation ground combat system, 'Army Tiger 4.0.' It is planned to replace the existing tent-type field command posts, with a total of about 700 units to be supplied. The project scale for the wheeled command post vehicle is approximately 1.2 trillion KRW, and the air conditioning systems and run-flat tires supplied by KSC and KRC alone amount to 90 billion KRW, indicating the large scale of the project.

A Woori Technology official said, "Initial deliveries of the wheeled command post vehicles will begin in 2023, with about 700 units to be produced by 2028," adding, "The heating and cooling air conditioning systems and run-flat tires can also be introduced to other vehicles such as wheeled medical evacuation vehicles, so if subsequent related vehicles following the command post vehicles go into mass production, significant additional sales are expected."

KSC is a defense parts specialized company that develops and produces heating and cooling air conditioning systems and auxiliary power units (APU) for wheeled combat vehicles such as tanks and armored vehicles. The heating and cooling air conditioning system supplied this time is expected to improve the working environment inside the vehicle and efficiently conduct field operations by enabling temperature control of the field command post connected to the vehicle.

KRC is a tactical tire specialized company that succeeded in domestic production of run-flat tires for the first time in Korea. KRC's run-flat tires can run for more than one hour at a speed of 50 km/h even if the tire is damaged due to unexpected situations such as being hit, so their adoption is spreading not only to command post vehicles but also mainly to self-propelled artillery.