Hyundai Rotem announced on the 13th that it will cooperate with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) on the development of aerial armament technologies, including a long-range air-to-air missile to be mounted on the KF-21.

On the 12th, Hyundai Rotem signed an “Aerial Armament Business Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)” with KAI at KAI’s headquarters in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province. The signing ceremony was attended by Cho Hyung-jun, Head of AD&RH Business Division at Hyundai Rotem, and Kim Yong-min, Head of Business Division at KAI, among others.

Through this agreement, the two companies will pursue technological cooperation for the development and system integration of aerial armaments, including long-range air-to-air missiles, with aircraft platforms such as the KF-21. They also agreed to collaborate on identifying package-type export models that link aircraft with mounted weapons, as well as on domestic and overseas business opportunities and global marketing.

The initiative is intended to respond to the recent expansion in the global defense market of package-type exports that propose aircraft together with armaments. The plan is to secure the capability to supply aircraft and weapons together by combining Hyundai Rotem’s guided weapon and propulsion system technologies with KAI’s aircraft platform technologies.

Hyundai Rotem is expanding its business scope from ground weapon systems to the aerospace sector. It is conducting research and development on future propulsion systems, including hypersonic propulsion engines, which are a core technology for aerial armaments.

Last year, the company won a project for the development of methane engine technology for reusable launch vehicles, overseen by the Agency for Defense Development Promotion (ADD Promotion Institute). It also secured projects supervised by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) for prototypes of long-range air-to-air guided weapons and for the development of the hypersonic vehicle “HyCore.”

A Hyundai Rotem official said, “This agreement will serve as an opportunity to strengthen competitiveness in the future aerial armament sector by combining the core technologies of both companies,” adding, “Based on the expertise and business capabilities of both parties, we will contribute to strengthening national defense capabilities and enhancing self-reliant defense through sound competition, and will strive to support the development of the domestic defense industry on the basis of diversity.”

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