Hanwha Aerospace partners with Canadian parts makers to build military vehicles

Hanwha Aerospace CEO Son Jae-il, center, Canada's Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association President Flavio Volpe, left, and Steve Jeong, senior executive vice president of Hanwha Ocean's Naval Ship International Business, hold up memorandums of understanding during a signing ceremony for their partnership in Toronto, Wedneday. Courtesy of Hanwha Aerospace

Hanwha Aerospace signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) Tuesday with Canada's Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association (APMA) and Hanwha Ocean to establish a joint venture to produce military and special-purpose industrial vehicles in Canada.

The signing ceremony took place at a Martinrea International facility near Toronto. Attendees included Son Jae-il, CEO of Hanwha Aerospace; Steve Jeong, senior executive vice president and head of the Naval Ship International Business at Hanwha Ocean; Victor Fedeli, Ontario's minister of economic development, job creation and trade; Flavio Volpe, president of APMA; and Rob Wildeboer, executive chairman of Martinrea International.

The joint venture is contingent on Hanwha Ocean's KSS-III Batch-II submarine being selected for the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP). If selected, the venture will develop and manufacture ground weapons systems required by the Canadian military.

Vehicles produced under the joint venture will use Canadian-made steel, aluminum and other locally sourced materials, with manufacturing carried out by workers hired in Canada. The companies said the initiative is aligned with the "Build in Canada" pillar of Canada's recently announced Defence Industrial Strategy.

The joint venture also plans to expand into the design and production of special-purpose industrial vehicles, targeting demand from Canadian government agencies, the military and Arctic resource development operations, with potential exports to allied countries.

Hanwha said it signed memorandums of understanding with approximately 30 Canadian companies and has been building a cooperation network in the country ahead of the CPSP decision.

According to an analysis by KPMG, Hanwha's investments in Canada could generate an average of approximately 22,500 full-time jobs per year and a cumulative GDP of $68.9 billion between 2026 and 2044.

"This MOU is a starting point for combining Canada's manufacturing capabilities with Hanwha Aerospace's defense technology to pursue local production and global market expansion together," Son said.

"Through a long-term partnership with the Canadian government and industry, we will strengthen Canada's defense capabilities and contribute to building a sustainable industrial ecosystem," he added.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.