Hanwha Aerospace is introducing a win-win cooperation system under which it fully funds research and development (R&D) by partner companies and shares the outcomes and intellectual property rights generated through joint development. The purpose of this system is to build a new co-growth model in which partner companies can boldly pursue R&D without the burden of failure and share the results together.

On the 3rd, Hanwha Aerospace held the “Win-Win Cooperation Declaration Ceremony for Innovation in the Defense and Aerospace Industry” at the R&D Center of its 3rd Plant in Changwon Special City, Gyeongsangnam-do, with about 80 participants, including representatives from 56 partner companies as well as officials from the government and local authorities.

The declaration ceremony was attended by Hanwha Aerospace CEO Sohn Jae-il and Head of Win-Win Cooperation Office Jung In-seop, along with key figures such as SG Solution Chairman Cho Jeong-hyun (Representative of the Win-Win Cooperation Council), Kim Kyoung-soo, Chairperson of the Presidential Committee for Balanced National Development, Kim Myung-joo, Vice Governor for Economic Affairs of Gyeongsangnam-do, People Power Party lawmaker Kim Jong-yang (Changwon-si Uichang-gu), and Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Heo Seong-moo (Changwon-si Seongsan-gu).

Kim Kyoung-soo, Chairperson of the Presidential Committee for Balanced National Development, said, “The main protagonists of today’s event are the partner companies,” adding, “The fact that Hanwha Aerospace has consistently built up competitiveness together with its partners in the region has led to today’s achievements.” He continued, “The defense industry can only succeed when companies, partner firms, and the government work together, and the government will actively support win-win cooperation so that it translates into global competitiveness.”

Kim Myung-joo, Vice Governor for Economic Affairs of Gyeongsangnam-do, stated, “Hanwha Aerospace’s win-win cooperation model is expected to serve as a springboard for enhancing the competitiveness of the defense and aerospace industries in the Gyeongnam region,” adding, “We will actively support localization of technology and the development of strong small and medium-sized enterprises.”
Hanwha Aerospace will implement a KRW 30 billion “Innovation Performance Sharing Program” from this year to advance cutting-edge defense technologies and promote co-growth. Through this program, when partner companies engage in advanced R&D and localization of core components, the company will fully cover all necessary costs, including research activity expenses such as direct development costs, as well as facility investments and infrastructure. In addition, for participation in government SME R&D programs, such as the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality (DATQ) – Defense Technology Promotion Institute’s component localization programs and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ public-private joint technology commercialization projects, Hanwha Aerospace will assume the entire cost burden that would otherwise fall on partner companies.

Furthermore, if a partner company that has successfully developed a technology achieves competitiveness gains in the first year of the contract, all resulting performance will be returned to that partner, and more than 50% will continue to accrue to the partner thereafter through a linked incentive scheme. The company also plans to guarantee order volumes for technologies with proven performance, enabling partner firms to continue stable investment and growth.

Based on the Innovation Performance Sharing Program, existing partners as well as strong SMEs and startups will be able to participate in R&D in strategic advanced defense fields such as AI and robotics. In this process, Hanwha Aerospace plans to share intellectual property rights with participating companies to support SMEs in growing into key players in defense technology innovation.

Hanwha Aerospace has decided to significantly strengthen the financial support it has been providing to partner companies. To underpin growing defense demand and export opportunities, it will triple its existing KRW 50 billion co-growth fund to KRW 150 billion. In addition, in a first for the defense industry, Hanwha Aerospace will collaborate with the Defense Industry Mutual Aid Association to introduce a system for reducing advance payment performance guarantee fees and plans to alleviate financial burdens on partner companies arising during export contract processes.
In the second part of the event, an open innovation consultation session was held with the aim of identifying innovative projects in the defense and aerospace sectors. Around 100 partner companies participated to present and discuss innovative technology proposals in more than 30 advanced R&D areas, including ground-based defense weapons, advanced guided weapons, advanced engines and unmanned aerial vehicles, and space launch vehicles.

Cho Jeong-hyun, Chairman of SG Solution and Representative of the Win-Win Cooperation Council, said, “Through this new win-win cooperation system, we will undertake bolder challenges, relying on Hanwha Aerospace as a strong partner, to achieve technological independence and global growth,” adding, “We welcome the establishment of such a system and look forward to a more powerful future.”

Hanwha Aerospace CEO Sohn Jae-il stated, “The competitiveness of K-Defense starts with the competitiveness of parts supplied by partner companies,” and added, “We will regard partner companies not as mere transaction counterparts, but as strategic partners with whom we share technology and jointly drive growth, thereby putting into practice the group’s philosophy of win-win management, ‘Going Far Together.’”

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