South Korea's Hanwha Aerospace plans to fuel Europe's massive rearmament strategy at NATO Ankara Forum.

Hanwha Aerospace utilized the NATO Defence Industry Forum in Ankara on July 8, 2026, to advance its European industrial expansion strategy amid allied efforts to rebuild continental defense production capacity. The South Korean defense manufacturer detailed its "Built with Europe, for Europe" localized manufacturing framework, shifting its operational model from direct export deliveries to regional joint ventures, technology transfers, and domestic assembly hubs. This localized positioning directly aligns with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's concurrent proposal for a Korea-NATO Defence Industry Partnership 2.0 to transition bilateral defense cooperation toward joint research, co-development, and long-term industrial co-production.

The strategy focuses on expanding established artillery and rocket manufacturing networks in Poland and Romania into broader regional sustainment, missile production, and modular charge systems across Northern and Western Europe. By integrating assets like the K9 Thunder howitzer and K239 Chunmoo missile launcher into local supply chains, the initiatives aim to mitigate critical defense supply bottlenecks exposed by persistent high-intensity European conflicts.

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Poland is the most advanced case of this European expansion strategy because the framework agreements with Hanwha Aerospace, which cover up to 672 K9 self-propelled howitzers, have already moved from rapid delivery toward local industrial participation. (Picture source: X/Polish MoD)

On July 8, 2026, Hanwha Aerospace used the NATO Defence Industry Forum in Ankara to promote its European expansion strategy inside NATO's wider effort to rebuild defence industrial capacity, increase production resilience, and reduce supply chain exposure after more than four years of high-intensity war in Ukraine. The South Korean company did not use the event to announce a new order, but to define its role in Europe's rearmament cycle through the "Built with Europe, for Europe" model, which means local manufacturing, European suppliers, technology transfer, sustainment capacity, and long-term industrial investment rather than only deliveries from South Korea.

The message was reinforced by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's proposal for a Korea-NATO Defence Industry Partnership 2.0, a political framework intended to move cooperation from export contracts toward joint research, co-development, co-production, and long-term industrial collaboration. The two messages are connected: Hanwha is building an industrial footprint in Poland, Romania, the Nordic region and Western Europe, while Seoul is seeking a more formal role for South Korea inside NATO's defence technological and industrial ecosystem. The NATO Defence Industry Forum, organized as part of the Allies in Ankara programme on the sidelines of the NATO Summit, gathered Allied governments, procurement authorities, defence industry leaders, policymakers and financial institutions involved in expanding NATO's production base.

The central issues were ammunition output, manufacturing capacity, shorter delivery timelines, secure supply chains and multinational industrial cooperation. More than $50 billion in industrial agreements and procurement initiatives were highlighted during the forum, showing the scale of NATO's move from emergency replacement purchases to a longer production cycle. For Hanwha, participating in this event was not only about marketing K9 howitzers or K239 launchers, but about positioning itself as a supplier able to deliver assets quickly while also moving part of the industrial work into Europe.

Jacek Cyrek, President and CEO of Hanwha Aerospace Europe, used the panel session to underline long-term partnerships, local production and technology cooperation as the core elements of the company's European approach. More specifically, Cyrek's remarks focused on a defence market in which production capacity has become as important as military performance. He argued that new technologies, emerging threats and changing geopolitical conditions are reshaping deterrence and resilience, which now depend on the ability to produce, repair, upgrade and sustain equipment under pressure.

Jacek Cyrek, President and CEO of Hanwha Aerospace Europe, argued that deterrence and resilience now depend not only on weapons already in service, but also on trusted industrial relationships able to produce, repair, modernize, and sustain equipment over time. (Picture source: Hanwha Aerospace)

That argument matches the direction of European procurement since 2022, as governments buying artillery, armoured vehicles, rockets or air defense systems increasingly demand domestic assembly, national maintenance capacity, local subcontractors and access to technology. Hanwha's first European growth phase after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine relied heavily on complete systems manufactured in South Korea, especially K2 Black Panther tanks, K9 Thunder self-propelled howitzers and K239 Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers. The company is now adapting that export-led model into a European manufacturing model, especially for the K9 Thunder, where production speed from South Korea is used for the first batches while later work shifts into European factories, supply chains, and sustainment structures.

Poland is the most advanced case of this shift because its framework agreements cover up to 672 K9 self-propelled howitzers and have already moved from rapid delivery toward local industrial participation. By the end of 2025, Poland had received 218 K9s, while Polish industry was expanding its role in component manufacturing, logistics support, sustainment and technology transfer. The Polish programme is therefore not only an artillery acquisition, but also part of Warsaw's attempt to rebuild a domestic land systems production and maintenance base able to support a much larger force over decades. Romania is the second anchor of Hanwha's European network through the July 2024 contract for 54 K9 Tunet self-propelled howitzers and 36 K10 ammunition resupply vehicles, valued at ₩1.3 trillion.

Construction of the Hanwha Armoured Vehicle Centre of Excellence, H-ACE Europe, began at Petrești in February 2026 on a 180,000 m² site. The first 18 K9s and 12 K10s will be built in South Korea, after which assembly will progressively move to Romania, giving the site roles in assembly, testing, maintenance, lifecycle support and possible regional exports. The Nordic region gives Hanwha a second layer of European scale because Norway, Finland, and Estonia already operate K9 self-propelled howitzers. This creates practical opportunities for common spare parts stocks, shared maintenance procedures, coordinated upgrades, training support and regional sustainment planning.

Norway's January 2026 order for 16 K239 Chunmoo launchers widened the network beyond tube artillery and made Oslo the first European customer for the whole South Korean rocket artillery system, as Poland's Homar-K combines the K239 launcher modules with a Polish Jelcz 8x8 truck chassis. The Norwegian package includes guided rocket families with ranges reaching 500 km, placing the Chunmoo inside Europe's growing demand for long-range precision fires. Hanwha's plan to establish missile production in Poland is also important because it would move part of the munitions supply chain into Europe and support future European Chunmoo operators without relying only on direct missile deliveries from South Korea.

This matters for NATO because rocket motors, propellants, explosives and guided munition components have become bottlenecks in European rearmament. President Lee Jae Myung's Korea-NATO Defence Industry Partnership 2.0 proposal gives the same logic a state-level structure. Lee called for deeper cooperation in joint research, co-development, co-production and long-term industrial collaboration, using South Korea's manufacturing capacity and NATO's operational experience as the two main inputs. The initiative goes beyond the buyer-seller model because it would place South Korean companies earlier in the capability cycle, including research, design, industrial planning, production and sustainment.

For NATO members, South Korea already offers active production lines in artillery, multiple rocket launchers, armoured vehicles, missile systems, aerospace, precision-guided munitions, aircraft engines, launch systems and space technologies. For Seoul, the objective is to avoid remaining dependent on individual export campaigns and instead become part of future multinational defence programmes. The proposal also reflects the growing connection between European and Indo-Pacific security, especially as NATO gives greater attention to cooperation with the Indo-Pacific Four (IP4): Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea. The industrial logic behind Hanwha's strategy is rooted in the production failures exposed by the war in Ukraine.

Many European forces entered the conflict period with limited ammunition stocks, reduced production lines, and procurement systems optimized for small annual batches rather than sustained high-intensity consumption. Shortages affected 155 mm artillery rounds, rocket motors, propellants, explosives, armoured vehicle production capacity, air defense interceptors, and long-range fires. South Korea did not reduce its defence manufacturing base to the same degree after the Cold War because its force structure and industrial planning remained shaped by the threat from North Korea.

Hanwha Aerospace, founded in 1977 and operating as a key affiliate of Hanwha Group, uses that industrial base across land, air, sea and space activities, including self-propelled howitzers, multiple rocket launchers, armoured vehicles, air defense systems, precision-guided munitions, aircraft engines, launch systems and space technologies. Its European model attempts to connect that production depth to local European assembly and sustainment, which is why the company emphasizes industrial cooperation rather than only export delivery. Hanwha's activity around the Ankara summit also shows that the company is investing in political access and institutional positioning, not only factories and vehicle assembly lines.

Alongside the NATO Defence Industry Forum, Hanwha co-hosted a networking reception with the Munich Security Conference and the Atlantic Council, gathering representatives from NATO institutions, Allied governments, defence companies, think tanks and international media. The timing is relevant because European defence expenditure is projected to reach €454 billion in 2026, creating stronger demand for artillery, rockets, munitions, air defence, armoured vehicles, sustainment capacity and secure supply chains.

Hanwha's strategy therefore has three connected layers: rapid supply from South Korea for urgent requirements, local production hubs in countries such as Poland and Romania, and a wider Korea-NATO framework intended to support future joint development and co-production. The result is a South Korean attempt to become a permanent part of NATO's industrial rearmament architecture rather than a temporary supplier filling gaps created by the war in Ukraine.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.

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