South Korea's leading defense companies are exhibiting at MSPO 2026, one of Europe's three largest defense shows, held September 8-11 in Kielce, Poland. Hanwha Aerospace and Hanwha Systems share a 274-square-meter booth under the slogan "Proven Partnership, Strategic Capabilities, Sovereign Defence," showing a multi-layered air defense lineup (L-SAM, H-SHORAD, H-Shield counter-drone, 40mm unmanned air defense), laser weapons including the Cheonkwang anti-aircraft laser and 50kW and 20kW mobile laser vehicles, the K9A2 howitzer, K-NIFV, unmanned ground systems, and the Striker-S unmanned surface vessel with a Chunmoo launcher; Hanwha Systems will demonstrate an AI satellite-imagery analysis solution on September 9. LIG Defense & Aerospace is presenting Cheongung-II, L-SAM, and the KGGB guided glide bomb, targeting Poland's multi-layered air defense and precision-munitions programs. SNT Dynamics and SNT Motiv are showing a 120mm vehicle-mounted mortar, a three-barrel 20mm remote weapon station, a 1,500-1,700 hp tank powerpack, and small arms including the K2C, K16, and K4, pitching integrated MRO and product-support packages. Hyundai Rotem is attending for the fifth consecutive year and KAI is also present, with the Korean delegation expected to review K2, K9, and FA-50 contract execution and expanded post-sale support with Polish counterparts.
Hanwha Systems and the Telecommunications Technology Association signed a strategic partnership on August 13 to jointly develop an AI-powered 5G tactical communications system designed from the first line of code to NATO's STANAG 5665, the alliance's first formal cellular defense standard, ratified in February 2026. The pairing combines Hanwha's position as the only Korean firm to have fully deployed the national battlefield tactical communications backbone with TTA's standing as a founding member of 3GPP. The project integrates terrestrial 5G with non-terrestrial networks including satellites, using AI to manage traffic across layers, and includes joint development of MOSS — a vehicle-mounted solution combining mobile tactical 5G base stations, transmission equipment, satellite terminals, and command-and-control gear on a single platform. Building to STANAG 5665 is explicitly aimed at NATO-market interoperability.
Two of Korea's biggest defense software rivals, Hanwha Systems and LIG Defense & Aerospace, are joining forces to develop an AI-powered battlefield command platform, as Seoul races to build the kind of software-driven military capability that made Palantir a central player in global defense tech. The partnership pairs Hanwha's command-network and C4I backbone experience with LIG D&A's precision-strike and unmanned-systems expertise. It lands alongside the Ministry of National Defense's 24.2 billion won defense-specialized hyperscale AI command-and-control program, where a LIG Nex1–Samsung SDS consortium and a Hanwha Systems–Naver Cloud consortium are competing, and follows LIG D&A's demonstration of simultaneous intelligent command and control of four unmanned surface vessels — Korea's first multi-type unmanned swarm connectivity — built with Palantir.
Hanwha Group disclosed on August 10 that its combined holding in Korea Aerospace Industries has reached 15.89% — Hanwha Aerospace 9.90%, Hanwha Systems 4.98%, and Hanwha Aerospace USA 1.01% — and filed for a business-combination review with the Fair Trade Commission. The move follows Hanwha Systems' announcement in July that it would spend 500 billion won ($362 million) buying KAI shares on the open market, which added roughly 3.45%. Hanwha remains the second-largest shareholder behind the Export-Import Bank of Korea at 26.41%. The antitrust question is vertical: Hanwha supplies aircraft engines, radar, avionics, and weapons, while KAI performs final assembly of fighters and helicopters. KAI's labor union has urged the FTC to block the combination, warning of an "all-out fight" if management participation is approved. Analysts frame the stake build-up as a cornerstone of Hanwha's 55 trillion won "AI Space Powerhouse" investment plan through 2040 and as positioning ahead of any future KAI privatization.
Hanwha Systems reported consolidated second-quarter revenue of 1.1176 trillion won, up 45% year-on-year, and operating profit of 103.7 billion won, up 219%, lifting the operating margin 5.1 percentage points to 9.3% and marking the company's best-ever quarterly result. Net profit rose 14% to 52.7 billion won and the order backlog stood at 11.2959 trillion won at the end of June. The result was a sizeable earnings surprise against a consensus of 952.7 billion won in revenue and 57.9 billion won in operating profit. Management credited large-scale export programs entering full-scale delivery — gunner's sights and fire control systems for Poland's K2 tanks, and Cheongung-II multi-function radars for the UAE and Saudi Arabia — alongside domestic mass-production work including the KF-21 AESA radar, Ulsan-class Batch-III combat management systems, and domestic K2 production. The ICT division added contributions from Hanwha Life Insurance system upgrades, Hanwha Philly Shipyard ERP implementation, and Hanwha Aerospace smart plant construction, with Philly Shipyard losses narrowing toward a targeted turnaround.
South Korea's Ministry of National Defense is investing about 24.2 billion won ($16.3 million) to build a defense-specialized hyperscale AI platform that fuses large language models with command-and-control capabilities, with two consortiums competing for the award. One is led by LIG Nex1 as prime, teamed with Samsung SDS, SK Telecom, and LG AI Research; the other is led by Hanwha Systems with Naver Cloud. The platform is designed to process multimodal battlefield information — text, imagery, video, voice, sensor, and radar data — to support Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) operations, and will ultimately integrate into Korea's future Command and Control System (KCCS). Both bids are built on LG AI Research's Exaone foundation model. Proposal evaluation was underway with a winner expected to be selected by the end of July 2026, and the 42-month program is scheduled to run from September 2026 to February 2030.
Hanwha Systems won a contract from Boeing for the Eagle Large Area Display for F-15K and F-15EX fighters, marking the first Korean avionics component export to the United States defense market.
Hanwha Systems rolled out the first mass-produced AESA radar for the KF-21 Boramae fighter, featuring approximately 1,000 T/R modules and 150-200 km detection range. The radar is a critical indigenous component of Korea's 4.5-generation fighter.