Hyundai Rotem (064350.KS) and Korea Aerospace Industries (047810.KS), or KAI, are joining forces to develop aviation weapons technology in-house, including a long-range air-to-air missile to be mounted on the KF-21, South Korea's homegrown supersonic fighter jet. Hyundai Rotem, LIG D&A and Hanwha Aerospace (012450.KS) are expected to bid for selection as the prototype developer in the long-range air-to-air guided missile system development project pursued by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), according to sources.
Hyundai Rotem said on the 13th that it had signed an aviation weapons business cooperation memorandum of understanding (MOU) at KAI's headquarters in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, on the 12th. The agreement was designed to expand technological cooperation and mutual exchange in the aviation weapons field based on the core capabilities held by both companies, and to strengthen their competitiveness in the global market.
Through the deal, the two companies will pursue technological cooperation for the development and system integration of aircraft platforms such as the KF-21 supersonic fighter and aviation weapons including long-range air-to-air missiles; the discovery of package-type export models linking aircraft platforms and mounted weapons; and joint identification of business opportunities at home and abroad along with global marketing.
The companies aim in particular to respond to the recent trend in the global defense market of package-type exports that propose aircraft and weapons together. The two firms agreed to combine Hyundai Rotem's guided-weapon and propulsion technology with KAI's aircraft platform technology to secure competitiveness in integrated solutions that offer aircraft and weapons together.
Hyundai Rotem has been continuously expanding its business beyond ground weapons systems into the aerospace field. It has accumulated independent aerospace technology capabilities by carrying out research and development of various future propulsion systems, including the development of hypersonic propulsion engines, a core aviation weapons technology. Last year, it won contracts including a methane engine technology development project for reusable launch vehicles led by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration's Korea Research Institute for Defense Technology Planning and Advancement, and projects led by the ADD to develop a long-range air-to-air guided weapon prototype and a hypersonic vehicle called HyCore.
A Hyundai Rotem official said the agreement would serve as an opportunity to further strengthen competitiveness in the future aviation weapons field by combining the core technologies of both companies. "Based on the expertise and business capabilities of both companies, we will contribute to strengthening national defense capabilities and enhancing self-reliant defense capacity," the official said.
