S. Korean firms seek to build footholds in U.S. defense market with legacy, high-tech weapons

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 (Yonhap) -- About a dozen South Korean companies on Monday showcased their cutting-edge military products, including an unmanned ground vehicle, border patrol drone and automatic artillery bore cleaner, at a major exhibition in Washington, amid growing prospects for defense industrial cooperation with the United States.

The Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) 2024 Annual Meeting and Exposition kicked off its three-day run Monday, bringing together more than 770 enterprises and exhibitors from over 90 countries at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Some 35,000 people are expected to join the event, organizers said.

A group of South Korean companies installed the "Korea Pavilion" as they seek to carve out a foothold in the U.S. market at a time when Washington is seeking to leverage regional allies and partners to strengthen logistical readiness under a "regional sustainment framework."

The Korean exhibitors included Hanwha Aerospace Co., Poongsan Corp., Korea Defense Industry Corp., Taekyung Electronics Co. and SooSung Defense Industries Ltd.

Hanwha Aerospace displayed the K9A2, the newest variant of its K9 self-propelled howitzer equipped with an auto turret capable of handling ammunition automatically, as well as a ground uncrewed transport (GRUNT) -- a hybrid electric vehicle meant to support infantry operations.

"In the midst of the rapidly changing security environment, the South Korea-U.S. alliance should move forward on a path to strengthening bilateral defense industrial cooperation, and through this, we believe the alliance can be further solidified," Jeff Sung, director of communications at Hanwha Aerospace, told Yonhap News Agency.

"The two countries have already been developing interoperability through combined exercises, and based on this, we can create a synergistic effect in technological cooperation and development, as well as the maintenance, repair and overhaul sector, which could serve as a catalyst for regional security," he added.

Expectations for defense industrial cooperation between South Korea and the U.S. have been rising as they have been firming up defense cooperation under the global security landscape full of uncertainties stemming from North Korea's growing security threats, its deepening military cooperation with Russia, Moscow's protracted war in Ukraine and instability in the Middle East.

To prop up their cooperation, Seoul and Washington signed an arrangement in November last year to prioritize the supply of defense materials and goods to each other. They have also been looking to ink a reciprocal defense procurement agreement designed to curtail trade barriers.

Poongsan Corp. put on display a wide variety of ammunition products, including 155-mm artillery projectiles. The company has focused largely on the sporting ammunition segment, but it has been seeking to expand its business opportunities to other countries as well.

Also participating in the exhibition was Taekyung Electronics Co., which showcased a "lighting broadcasting drone" used for border patrol missions. It is equipped with an electro-optical/infrared system, a search light and a communication function.

"We are seeking to advance into the global export market with our product designed for border patrol missions in the military domain and for public safety purposes in the civilian sector," said Y.S. Choi, the general manager of the strategy planning headquarters of the company.

SooSung Defense Industries presented an automatic artillery bore cleaner, which has been applied to South Korean artillery systems like K9 howitzers and K2 battle tanks. It said that the product would help significantly reduce the number of personnel and the amount of time required to clean artillery bores, compared with a manual cleaning process.

"We hope that this exhibition will serve as a good opportunity to promote our product," An Ji-hwan, the company's president, said.

Aside from South Korean firms, those from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Norway and others have also set up their country-specific pavilions to highlight their domestic industrial capabilities.

[email protected]
(END)