Hanwha Aerospace and KAI said Thursday they signed a memorandum of understanding on Feb. 5 at Hanwha Building in central Seoul to strengthen the global competitiveness of South Korea’s defense industry. Attendees included Hanwha Aerospace CEO Son Jae Il and KAI CEO Cha Jae Byung, along with other officials from both companies.
Under the agreement, the companies said they will cooperate on joint development and export efforts for unmanned aircraft; development and joint marketing of aircraft equipped with domestically produced engines; and collaboration aimed at entering the global commercial space market.
Hanwha Aerospace and KAI said they each have more than 40 years of experience in aircraft airframe development and production. They also cited prior work with the Agency for Defense Development on state-led programs, including development of unmanned aircraft airframes and onboard engines, and said they expect synergies from the partnership.
The companies said they will run joint research and development and technical support programs. They said they expect to pursue joint development of an advanced aircraft engine to be installed on a follow-on model to the domestically developed KF-21 fighter. They also plan to regularly operate a “Future Aerospace Strategy Committee” involving top executives to build a mid- to long-term cooperation framework.
Cha said, “Through this strategic cooperation, we will support the government’s balanced regional development policy and further expand the export footprint of K-defense.”
Son said the MOU is intended to “present a new model for exports and shared growth based on ecosystem innovation across the defense and space aviation sectors,” adding that the company will “step by step expand a win-win growth and cooperation model” with KAI.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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