SACHEON — Hanwha Aerospace (012450) is putting its entire aerospace business on display, from fighter jet engines to space launch vehicles.
The company said it will take part in the 2026 Sacheon Airshow, which opens on the 22nd at Sacheon Airfield in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province. This year's event, running through the 25th, combines the existing air festival with the Gyeongnam Aerospace and Defense Expo (GADEX). A total of 130 companies and institutions from South Korea and abroad will showcase technologies and products. The event also includes export consultation sessions and business meetings among global companies aimed at broadening overseas partnerships for Korean firms.
Hanwha Aerospace will exhibit four items in the aviation category: an advanced aircraft engine it plans to develop for next-generation fighter jets including the KF-21, a 5,500-pound turbofan engine for unmanned aircraft developed with domestic technology, the Mojave STOL short-takeoff-and-landing unmanned aircraft, and a canister-launched interceptor drone.
In the space category, the company will display the Nuri, South Korea's homegrown launch vehicle, which completed a successful fifth launch on Oct. 7. As the private-sector prime contractor for the program, Hanwha Aerospace works with the Korea Aerospace Research Institute and about 300 participating companies on manufacturing and launch operations for the Nuri.
What the company is highlighting at this exhibition is the ecosystem. Aerospace is a field where technologies spanning materials, components and equipment converge, meaning the capabilities of the entire ecosystem determine competitiveness.
The government's recent designation of the Changwon National Industrial Complex as a specialized cluster for advanced aircraft engines under its national strategic industries program follows the same logic. South Gyeongsang Province plans to build an industrial ecosystem with 43 companies including Hanwha Aerospace, spanning the development of core materials and components for aircraft engines through testing and certification to production, while broadening the basis for shared growth between large and smaller firms.
Hanwha Aerospace has also signed a series of agreements starting with a declaration ceremony for cooperative growth in February this year, including a memorandum of understanding on aircraft engine materials and components, an MOU on cooperative growth in aircraft engine machining, and an industry-academia-research cooperation agreement covering unmanned aircraft and drones. The company is expanding opportunities to work with 421 core materials and components partner firms in South Gyeongsang Province across major business areas such as aircraft engines, unmanned aircraft and drones.
"Through cooperative growth with our partner companies, we will develop advanced technologies and, on that basis, expand into global markets, creating a virtuous cycle of shared growth," an official at Hanwha Aerospace said.