Hanwha Aerospace and Babcock International have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore global business development opportunities, spanning diverse sectors by leveraging the extensive operations of both companies.

This new partnership will benefit from Babcock's long-standing experience supporting defence programmes in countries such as Canada and Poland, as well as its expertise in Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO), alongside Hanwha Aerospace's extensive expertise in global aerospace and defence equipment.

This partnership, with an initial focus on opportunities to cooperate on conventional submarines, underscores the strengthening of defense cooperation between Korea and the UK. Hanwha Aerospace's commitment to investment and involvement within the UK Defense Sector is expected to help broaden the realm of industrial cooperation between Hanwha Group and UK partners over a wide range of sectors, including aerospace, shipbuilding, communications, and energy solutions.

Jae-il Son, President and CEO of Hanwha Aerospace, said:

"This Memorandum of Understanding deepens our already strong connection with Babcock, as well as our dedication to Korea-UK defense ties as we work together to address global defense challenges. As we move forward, we are keen to leveraging the synergies of this partnership to strengthen our product offerings and give exceptional value to our customers around the world."

Hanwha Ocean, an affiliate of Hanwha Aerospace, and Babcock signed a Technical Cooperation Agreement earlier this year, cooperating to share their respective capabilities in shipbuilding and sustainment in support of the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project(CPSP) and the current Victoria In Service Support Contract(VISSC).

David Lockwood, Babcock CEO, said:

"This announcement builds on our longstanding relationship with Hanwha in both the defence and energy sectors. This is an exciting venture that will see our organisations bring together complementary skills and expertise to forge innovative solutions for our current and future customers across the globe".

Hanwha Aerospace's presence in the UK defense market was prominently demonstrated at DSEI 2023. The company displayed a diverse range of defense technologies, most notably, the K9A2 Self-Propelled Howitzer (SPH) platform equipped with the Composite Rubber Track (CRT) developed by Soucy Defense. This unveiling marked a significant advancement in developing a British variant of the K9A2, fulfilling the requirements of the UK Mobile Fires Platform (MFP) programme. Leading Team Thunder UK, a consortium of accomplished UK defense manufacturers, Hanwha Aerospace is committed to delivering an advanced mobile fires capability to the British Army, in line with its MFP requirements.

Source:prnewswire.com