Hanwha Barracuda vehicles on the streets of West Papua
Barracuda 'riot suppression' vehicles are a familiar sight wherever there is protest activity in West Papua. A series of silent protests held outside the trial of Victor Yeimo during 2022 and 2023 have been encircled by these heavily armed vehicles. Victor Yeimo is the spokesperson of the West Papuan National Committee (KNPB), a civil society group advocating dialogue and referendum. Yeimo is being tried for 'treason'.
Hanwha (formerly Doosan) sold 20 Barracuda weaponised vehicles to Indonesia in 2004. In 2022 Hanwha signed a contract with POLRI to supply 25 more of the weapons.
The Barracuda 4×4 armored wheeled vehicle is developed with top-of-the-line technology, and is capable of effectively performing security maintenance, riot suppression, and patrol missions with excellent high-speed maneuverability and outstanding protection capacity.
Effectively a mobile weapons station, the Barracuda can be equipped with various types of weaponry. SMB (Heavy Machine Gun) Browning M2HB 12.7 mm and 7.62 caliber medium machine gun can be mounted on the roof. In the Brimob variant, three viewing glasses are provided on either side. Under each glass block is a firing port suitable for the SS-1, M16 or Steyr AUG barrel.
The Barracuda is based on Thyssen Henschel's Radpanzer TM-170. Thyssen has been acquired by Rheinmetall.