Geelong
Australian city on Corio Bay, Victoria's second-largest, where Hanwha builds armoured vehicles
Geelong, Victoria's port city on Corio Bay, is where Hanwha builds the AS9 Huntsman, its Australian K9 howitzer, at an armoured-vehicle plant opened on 23 August 2024; Hanwha bought a Milrem THeMIS ground robot for its Australian Arm on 7 October 2026.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026
Timeline for Geelong
Mentioned in: Hanwha buys two Milrem THeMIS robots
Autonomous Systems: Land & SeaBackground
Geelong is Victoria's second-largest city, on Corio Bay about 75km south-west of Melbourne, with an estimated 282,809 people in 2020. Ford closed its Norlane engine plant in 2016, and manufacturing still provides about 15,000 jobs.
Defence has become part of that industrial base. Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles opened the A$170m Hanwha Armoured Vehicle Centre of Excellence at the Avalon Airport precinct in Geelong on 23 August 2024. It builds the AS9 Huntsman self-propelled howitzer, the AS10 ammunition resupply vehicle and the Redback infantry fighting vehicle, and is the first overseas production base of a Korean defence company.
The site gives Hanwha a ready route for new products. On 7 October 2026 Milrem said Hanwha had bought a THeMIS ground robot for its Australian marketing, local production and sustainment work, following the pattern it used for its howitzers: win an Australian order, then build near the customer at Geelong.