Hanwha to showcase advanced weapons systems in Poland

South Korea’s Hanwha Group will unveil its advanced land, sea, air and space weapons systems this week at the International Defense Industry Exhibition (MSPO) in Poland, as it is keen to clinch an order for its Redback infantry fighting vehicles and submarines from the European country.

At the Sept. 5-8 exhibition in Kielce, Poland, Hanwha Aerospace Co., Hanwha Systems Co. and Hanwha Ocean Co. will jointly showcase their state-of-the-art weapons, their parent group said on Monday.

Last year, Hanwha Aerospace clinched several-billion-dollar orders from Poland for the K9 self-propelled howitzers and Chunmoo multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS). 

The chemicals-to-defense conglomerate is striving to win another round of orders from the country, while preparing to bid for an order for four new submarines worth an estimated 8 trillion won ($6 billion) to be placed by the East European country.

It is the first time for the group’s three major defense companies to exhibit their new weapons systems together, after aircraft components maker Hanwha Aerospace absorbed armored vehicle manufacturer Hanwha Defense Corp. and gunpowder producer Hanwha Munitions Corp. between late last year and April this year.

Hanwha Aerospace also closed its 2-trillion-won ($1.5 billion) purchase of Hanwha Ocean, formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Engineering Co., in May this year with a hope of becoming a Korean version of Lockheed Martin, the US aerospace, arms and defense giant.

At this week’s exhibition, Hanwha will set up a large-scale integrated exhibition hall of 375 square meters in the center of the Korea Pavilion and unveil cutting-edge weapons systems specialized for the European terrain for the first time.

It will also display a weapon system with the ground-to-ground guided missile Cheongum mounted on an unmanned search vehicle, deemed a future defense robot, also for the first time.

The system can perform missions such as search, reconnaissance and surveillance on behalf of soldiers in areas where manpower deployment is difficult due to Europe's long borders.

It can be used to remove landmines in Ukraine, at war with Russia for more than a year, without causing damage.

An explosive detection and removal robot scheduled for domestic mass production will also be debuted at the exhibition.

Hanwha is keen to sell its defense systems to other Eastern European countries such as Ukraine and Romania, which are expected to ramp up rearmament efforts after the Russia-Ukraine war ends.

To that end, it established a subsidiary in Poland in charge of European operations in the first half of this year.

If the company wins another round of orders from Poland for the K9 self-propelled howitzers, Chunmoo MLRS and other weapons, it will likely build a manufacturing plant in the European country.

This year, Hanwha Aerospace was chosen by Australia as a preferred supplier of the Redback armored vehicles.

Hanwha Group Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan, the eldest son of group Chairman Kim Seung-youn, oversees the group’s defense and solar energy units. 

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com
 

Yeonhee Kim edited this article.