Hanwha to Reorganize Defense Businesses

The Hanwha Group announced on Oct. 17 that it will reorganize its four defense affiliates – Hanwha Corporation, Hanwha Techwin, Hanwha System and Hanwha Defense – to strengthen the competitiveness and improve the investment efficiency.

The group’s defense arms plan to combine their dispersed business abilities and redistribute them by adjusting business areas this time in order to boost the competitiveness and jump into one of the world's top 10 defense firms. The four defense affiliates will completely adjust business areas by the end of 2017 to reinforce their global business competence.

Hanwha Corp. plans to strengthen its competence in its guided weapon and ammunition business and grow into a global precision strike system specialist by adding the cutting edge laser weapon business. To this end, it will take over the navigation and laser weapon businesses from Hanwha Defense and Hanwha System, respectively.

The laser weapon business is concerned with a next-generation weapon system that can complement and replace precision strike systems, such as ammunition and guided weapons, in the future. The company expects the laser weapons business to create synergy with Hanwha System’s surveillance and tracking devices and Hanwha Defense’s land platform.

Hanwha Techwin plans to merge the technologies of Hanwha Corp., Hanwha Techwin and Hanwha System for unmanned robots for land and sea to prepare the era of unmanned weapon systems and grow into a global firepower and unmanned system specialist along with its existing self-propelled artillery business.

Hanwha System will further build on its strength as a global defense electronics company by boosting the synergy effect with other affiliates based on its advanced technologies, including laser, photoelectron and C4I. In addition, Hanwha Defense will be in charge of land platforms of various weapon systems while focusing management resources on its specialty, such as maneuver, antiaircraft and launcher systems, in order to become a global ground equipment specialist.