On April 29 at the Hanwha Building in Seoul’s Jung-gu district, Hanwha Aerospace’s Propulsion Ammunition Team 1 leader, Cho Jeong-tae, briefed attendees on the company’s ducted ramjet propulsion system during Hanwha Aerospace Tech Academy 2026. /Photo courtesy of Hanwha Aerospace
Hanwha Aerospace unveils core technologies to domestically produce air-launched munitions — bolstering self-reliant defense with a Korean take on the Meteor
Kim Dong-kwanView articles, Son Jae-il) held the Hanwha Tech Academy 2026 event at the Hanwha Building in Jung-gu on April 29 and showcased core technologies for producing air-launched munitions domestically. Working with the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), Hanwha aims to replace foreign dependence on key air-launched weapons by developing systems in-country. The effort is intended to strengthen South Korea’s self-reliant defense posture and improve the export competitiveness of indigenous platforms such as the KF-21, supporting broader growth in K-defense exports.
At the event, Hanwha focused on the ducted ramjet propulsion system, outlining current development status and next steps for air-launched munitions.
A ducted ramjet is a missile propulsion concept that ingests air during flight and burns solid fuel to produce thrust. Because it does not require a separate onboard oxidizer, the architecture offers longer range, the ability to accelerate rapidly, and sustained high-speed flight—qualities that make it a priority technology for advanced air-launched weapons. European defense firm MBDA’s long-range air-to-air missile, the Meteor, uses a similar ramjet-based approach.
Hanwha Aerospace says it has conducted 22 years of research since 2005, under ADD leadership, on core ducted-ramjet components such as propellants, gas generators and combustors.
Building on that work, the company plans to take an active role in government-led programs to develop ducted-ramjet–based weapons, including long-range air-to-air missiles and supersonic air-to-surface missiles—platforms representing the high end of tactical aviation armament.
Hanwha has also partnered with the government on advanced artillery ammunition to improve the hit probability of 155mm rounds fired from the K9 self-propelled howitzer.
Precision-guided artillery rounds are smart munitions designed to strike critical enemy targets with a small number of projectiles. They integrate GPS (Global Positioning System) with an INS (Inertial Navigation System), a guidance and control package, and steerable tail surfaces.
Where traditional self-propelled artillery is optimized for area fires using massed rounds, coupling it with precision-guided projectiles enables pinpoint, missile-like strikes.
Hanwha also demonstrated a ballistic-correction fuze that uses GPS mid-flight to adjust a shell’s trajectory and increase impact accuracy. The technology addresses the accuracy degradation that occurs at extended ranges and can be fielded by replacing existing fuzes with ballistic-correction units, which improves flexibility and logistics.
Both the precision-guided rounds and the ballistic-correction fuzes include domestically developed anti-jamming capabilities to mitigate enemy electronic warfare measures.
Developing these advanced munitions domestically lets the military respond quickly to changing requirements and could open additional ammunition export opportunities to nations operating the K9 howitzer.
A Hanwha Aerospace spokesperson said, “We will actively participate in domesticizing advanced defense technologies in cooperation with the government and our industrial partners to strengthen self-reliant defense and expand South Korea’s defense exports.”
Shin Hye-joo, Hankook Financial News reporter hjs0509@fntimes.com
