Hanwha Aerospace joins NATO defense industry forum, pledges contribution to alliance's defense ecosystem

A Hanwha Aerospace delegation attended the NATO Defense Industry Forum in Ankara, Turkey, on Tuesday (local time), discussing ways to strengthen Europe's defense production base and expand industrial cooperation, the company said Wednesday.

The forum is a defense-sector side event of the NATO summit, bringing together officials from member governments, global defense companies and policy institutions to discuss security issues and industrial cooperation.

During a panel session, Jacek Cirek, head of Hanwha Aerospace's European operations, said expanding defense cooperation between NATO member states and Indo-Pacific Partner (IP4) countries was essential and stressed the importance of long-term industrial partnerships.

"New technologies, new threats and a shifting geopolitical environment are changing the way we think about defense, deterrence and resilience," Cirek said. "To strengthen Europe's defense capabilities, the importance of building a stable supply chain, enhancing local production capacity and establishing joint development and production frameworks is growing — well beyond simply acquiring equipment."

He added that "technology delivers its greatest value when built on trust, shared goals and strong partnerships," and said Hanwha Aerospace "is committed to strengthening each nation's sovereign defense capabilities, expanding industrial cooperation and contributing to the development of a stronger, more resilient NATO defense ecosystem." Cirek highlighted ongoing localization efforts, technology cooperation and industrial partnership expansion across Europe — including in Poland and Romania — as representative examples of the company's industrial cooperation strategy.

In Poland, Hanwha Aerospace has successfully built technology cooperation and co-production frameworks through the K9 self-propelled howitzer and Chunmoo multiple rocket launcher programs, and is pursuing a local joint venture for missile co-production as well as a modular charge system production base. In Romania, the company is building a ground defense systems production facility, while in Northern Europe it is expanding technology cooperation and investment centered on the K9 and Chunmoo. Joint development and technology cooperation efforts are also underway in Western European countries including Germany and France.

The forum also saw a government-level blueprint presented to advance defense cooperation between South Korea and NATO. President Lee Jae-myung delivered a keynote address at the defense industry forum, proposing a "Korea-NATO Defense Industry Cooperation Partnership 2.0" and calling for existing cooperation — centered on weapons systems — to be expanded into joint research and development, co-production, joint operations and long-term industrial cooperation. Lee also said combining South Korea's stable production capacity and proven technological capabilities with NATO's accumulated expertise would significantly strengthen the security capabilities of both sides.

Hanwha Aerospace also hosted a networking reception the same day. The event drew about 150 attendees, including representatives from the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, NATO Allied Command Transformation, a US congressional delegation and global defense companies. Participants discussed a range of cooperation measures, including strengthening defense production bases, improving supply chain resilience and expanding co-production.