AS21 Redback

The IFV Australia chose over the Lynx — Hanwha's AS21 Redback is a heavily-protected tracked infantry fighting vehicle built around a 30mm cannon, Spike anti-tank missiles, an active protection system and a helmet that lets the crew "see through" the hull. Derived from South Korea's K21 but redesigned to Australia's exacting requirements and built on Australian soil, it beat Rheinmetall's Lynx KF41 to win the Australian Army's Land 400 Phase 3 competition — and became another marker of Korea's surge into the front rank of armoured-vehicle exporters.

Overview

The AS21 Redback is a tracked infantry fighting vehicle developed by Hanwha Defense (through its Australian arm, Hanwha Defense Australia) for the Australian Army's Land 400 Phase 3 program to replace the Vietnam-era M113 armoured personnel carrier. Evolved from Hanwha's South Korean K21 IFV but extensively redesigned and uparmoured to meet Australia's demanding protection and capability requirements, the Redback carries three crew and a section of dismounts behind heavy composite-and-modular armour, an active protection system, a 30mm cannon with Spike-LR2 anti-tank missiles, and advanced sensors including a helmet-mounted "see-through armour" system. After a competitive evaluation against Rheinmetall's Lynx KF41, Australia selected the Redback in 2023; the vehicles are being built at Hanwha's facility in Geelong, Victoria, with deliveries from 2027 — making the Redback both a major Australian capability and a flagship of Korea's armoured-vehicle export drive.

Development

Hanwha developed the Redback specifically for Land 400 Phase 3, offering an evolved derivative of its in-service K21 as the AS21, per Wikipedia and Army Technology. In 2019 the Redback and Rheinmetall's Lynx KF41 were shortlisted, and both underwent a rigorous risk-mitigation evaluation by the Australian Army. In 2023, Australia selected the Redback as the winner, per Australian Defence Magazine — though the originally-envisaged buy of around 450 vehicles had been cut to 129 in a defence-posture review. The vehicles are manufactured at the new Hanwha Armoured Vehicle Centre of Excellence in Geelong, Victoria, with first deliveries from 2027. The Redback win, alongside Korea's K9 howitzer (also selected by Australia) and the K2 and FA-50 sales to Poland, cemented Hanwha and South Korea as major armoured-vehicle exporters and deepened Korea-Australia defence-industrial ties.

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