Hanwha Aerospace and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) have announced a collaborative effort to enhance the capabilities of airborne armaments, such as a cutting-edge long-distance air-to-air missile, designed specifically for incorporation into South Korea's domestically-produced aircraft.
Hanwha Aerospace made an announcement regarding the signing of a memorandum of understanding with KAI, specifically during the World Defense Show (WDS) being held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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The agreement entails the integration of air-launched weapon systems onto KAI's twin-engine fighter, the KF-21 Boramae, and the light combat aircraft FA-50 by the two companies.
We are confident that by combining our experience in executing a wide range of missile development programs — from air-to-air and air-to-ground to surface-to-air — with KAI’s expertise in integrated fighter systems, we can achieve our goal of developing fully domestic air-launched weapons,” Hanwha Aerospace CEO Son Jae-il says.
“Building on this foundation, we aim to help defend South Korea’s airspace, earn the trust of customers worldwide and support the sustainable growth of K-defense”.
“As overseas customers increasingly recognize the reliability of Korean defense technology, we are seeing demand not only for aircraft but also for fully integrated, Korean-made operational packages,” KAI CEO Cha Jae-byoung says.
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“The domestic defense industry will continue to work together to expand K-defense exports through coordinated marketing and industrial cooperation”.
The companies have intentions to collaborate in assisting government-initiated programs led by the Agency for Defense Development, which are geared towards the advancement of air-launched weaponry. This collaboration is driven by the objective of attaining superior technical expertise in state-of-the-art precision-guided munitions.
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Hanwha Aerospace has been engaging in sophisticated investigations and examinations of cutting-edge concepts and technologies for the agency concerning future missile systems. This includes the development of solid fuel ducted ramjet propulsion for extended range airborne and high-velocity attack missiles, as well as supersonic surface-to-air and anti-naval missiles.
At this year's World Defense Summit, the organization introduced its innovative laser precision-guided weapon (L-PGW) for the very first time. The L-PGW represents a novel armament system that employs artificial intelligence in the identification and categorization of targets, with data transmission facilitated through a satellite datalink to facilitate the deployment and activation of a self-destructing drone in combat scenarios.
In the past year, Hanwha Aerospace achieved unprecedented financial results for the third consecutive year, emphasizing the increasing success of its operations in the defense and aerospace sectors. The company announced a total revenue of approximately 26.61 trillion won ($18.24 billion) with an operating profit of 3.03 trillion won, reflecting a notable increase of 137 percent and 75 percent, respectively, compared to 2024.
During the previous year, Hanwha Aerospace successfully obtained important international contracts, such as agreements to provide K9 self-propelled howitzers to Norway and the K239 Chunmoo multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS) to Estonia. Moreover, the company recently finalized another MRLS supply contract with Norway.