Hanwha Aerospace held its inaugural Industry Day in Bucharest, Romania, on 17th May to build up partnerships with local industries. The industry event was designed to share emerging opportunities of collaboration between Hanwha and Romanian industries in a variety of business sectors ranging from aerospace, defence to energy and naval solutions. The one-day conference called ‘Hanwha Industry Day’ was held at the Marmorosch Bucharest, with the attendance of about 80 Government and Industry representatives. High-profile participants include Mr. Rim Kap-soo, South Korean Ambassador to Romania; Mr. Horatiu Barbu, Head of Service in the Romanian Defence Industry Directorate; Ms. Cristina Dragomirescu, Vice President of the Romanian Agency for Technological, Industrial Cooperation for Security and Defense (ARCTIS); and Mr. Viorel Manole, President of PATROMIL, the Romania Business Association of the Military Technique Manufactures; Billy Boohwan Lee, Head of Hanwha Aerospace Europe; and Peter JK Bae, Vice President of Hanwha Aerospace Europe.
“Hanwha Aerospace is looking to broaden cooperation with Romania over defence modernisation plans, leveraging strong partnership with local industries, and this is the key theme for today’s industry networking event. We will bring maximum economic benefits to the Romanian market by activating localisation programmes ranging from local manufacturing, tech transfer to the establishment of an MRO Centre of Excellence. We’re fully committed to working together with Romanian suppliers to build up an effective local supply chain network, which will generate future values and minimise operational risks. Teaming up with Romanian partners, we will seek an opportunity to export our products to third countries as well as work on joint R&D projects aimed at the European market,” said Peter Bae, Vice President of Hanwha Aerospace Europe.
The AS21 Redback is a derivative of the K21 IFV. The K21 is a South Korean infantry fighting vehicle. The initial production began in 2009, with the Republic of Korea Army planning to field approximately 466 units. It is designed to effectively defeat other IFVs as heavily armed and armored as the BMP-3. The Redback is the world’s most modern infantry fighting vehicle featuring best-in-class armoured protection, mobility and lethality. With its adaptability and growth potential, the vehicle employs a range of innovative technologies including composite rubber track, a hard- kill active protection system, and a see-through helmet mounted display. The Redback IFV was chosen in 2023 as the next-generation IFV solution for the Australian Defence Force for the LAND 400 Phase 3 project to deliver 129 advanced IFVs. The Redback is also considered as a point of start for the South Korean Army’s next-generation IFV programme.
In bids to strengthen partnerships with local industries, Hanwha Aerospace is dedicated to teaming up with Romanian suppliers for future projects. About 20 Romanian companies participated in the event to present overviews of their business programmes and possible involvement of Hanwha projects. The industry partners also had opportunities to communicate face-to-face with Team Hanwha Aerospace for future collaboration. During the conference, industry stakeholders showed keen interest in Hanwha’s Redback IFV solution, which can meet the needs of operational requirements of the Romanian Armed Forces, as well as enhance a manufacturing capability of the local industries. The Redback shares the same chassis and powertrain with the K9, which can lead to significant cost savings and manufacturing efficiency when operating both systems.
