Hanwha sees higher odds of winning Poland submarine deal

South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean Co. appears to be a step closer to winning a 3.2 trillion won ($2.4 billion) Polish order for submarines, after a senior official of the state-owned Polish Armaments Group, or Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ), said it will engage in comprehensive cooperation with the world’s No. 2 shipbuilder, according to Hanwha on Sunday.

The Korean company said PGZ executive Cezary Cierzan made such remarks on Sept. 5, after inspecting the Hanwha-made 3,000-ton submarine Jang Bogo-III class Batch-II during his visit to Hanwha's booth at the International Defense Industry Exhibition held in the Polish city of Kielce last week.

Cierzan is in charge of PGZ’s maritime technologies department as a director, according to his LinkedIn profile.

There was no official agreement signed on that matter, but his remarks point to stronger odds of Hanwha securing Poland’s ORKA submarine program worth 3.2 trillion won.

PGZ leads the project to buy three to four new submarines armed with long-range cruise missiles to attack land targets, for which some 10 companies are vying.

To promote the naval vessel, Hanwha Group Vice Chairman and heir apparent Kim Dong-kwan pitched the 3,000-ton submarine to Polish President Andrzej Sebastian Duda when he looked around Hanwha's exhibition booth.

The South Korean conglomerate attended the exhibition after it clinched several-billion-dollar orders from Poland in 2022 to supply K9 self-propelled howitzers and Chunmoo multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS).

During the Sept. 5-8 trade show, Hanwha Aerospace inked a memorandum of understanding with PGZ to team up to produce HOMAR-K, a Polish version of Hanwha’s K239 Chunmoo MLRS. Hanwha delivered one of them to Poland last month.

Before the delivery of the second MLRS, Hanwha and PGZ tentatively agreed to set up a joint venture to develop technologies that enable Poland-made 122 mm rockets to fit with the Chunmoo rocket artillery system. 

Hanwha Group’s defense companies -- aircraft components maker Hanwha Aerospace Co., weapons systems developer Hanwha System Co. and Hanwha Ocean – are striving to expand their presence in Poland, which they see as a stepping stone for their inroads into other parts of the continent.

During the exhibition, Hanwha Group also signed an MOU with Wojskowy Instytut Techniki Pancernej i Samochodowej, a Polish armored vehicle R&D institute under Poland’s defense ministry, to collaborate on the development of unmanned ground vehicles.

“We will actively pursue additional exports of Chunmu, depending on demand for the artillery from NATO and the EU," said Hanwha Aerospace Chief Executive Son Jae-il.

NATO stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Hanwha Systems showcased maritime and satellite systems during the exhibition as it is seeking to advance into Europe’s military communications recovery market since the Russia-Ukraine war has damaged communication networks there.

Its CEO Eoh Sung-chul met with Creotech Instruments CEO Grzegorz Brona last week and discussed business cooperation with the Polish satellite systems developer.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at Khk@hankyung.com
 


Yeonhee Kim edited this article