Hanwha Aerospace said it is moving to build a cooperative ecosystem to localize key aircraft engine materials and components.
The company said it held an “Aircraft Engine Materials and Parts Localization and Shared-Growth Cooperation Agreement Ceremony” on the 24th at its Changwon Plant 1 in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province.
A total of 39 partner companies, including Korea Carbon, KPCM, Korea Lost Wax (KLW) and Tesco, jointly signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korea Testing Laboratory, the Korea Testing & Research Institute and Korea University of Technology and Education.
Officials from the Korea Institute of Materials Science, the Air Force Aircraft Resource Management Group, the Agency for Defense Development and Gyeongsang National University also attended.
Hanwha Aerospace said the signatories will form a consortium to pursue localization in a more systematic way and conduct joint R&D for development, testing, evaluation and certification.
The company said it also plans to establish and carry out a global supply-chain strategy to help partners enter overseas markets, and later expand cooperation to other areas of aircraft engine development, including design and machining.
Hanwha Aerospace said it has worked with partners to develop core technologies in aircraft engines. Working with domestic precision casting firms including Korea Lost Wax, Seongil Turbine and Cheonji Industry, it said it has developed and mass-produced turbine blades and high-temperature parts using second- and third-generation single-crystal materials over the past 20 years and obtained international certifications including NADCAP and KOLAS.
It said it supplies coating materials to original equipment manufacturers with its joint venture, ThermTech Korea. It also said SeAH Changwon Special Steel, a specialty steel maker, has worked with Hanwha Aerospace to develop Waspaloy material for Pratt & Whitney’s GTF engine, meeting quality requirements and nearing entry into the global supply chain.
In October last year, Hanwha Aerospace said it established and is operating the Hanwha Materials Joint Research Center at the Korea Institute of Materials Science to develop key aircraft engine materials.
Cho Moon-soo, chairman of Korea Carbon, said, “At a time when securing export competitiveness is more important than ever, I expect this newly launched consortium will lead to tangible growth in partners’ capabilities and export results.”
Son Jae-il, CEO of Hanwha Aerospace, said, “Without shared growth with our partners, we cannot achieve localization of aircraft engines,” adding, “We will secure technological sovereignty through mutual growth.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
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