S.Korea’s Hanwha eyes L-SAM exports with UAE’s EDGE  

Hanwha Group’s Vice Chairman and heir apparent Kim Dong-kwan is on the front line to export South Korea's latest homegrown air defense system in the burgeoning defense market in the Middle East.

According to Hanwha, Kim, also the chief executive officer of the group’s key defense unit Hanwha Aerospace Co., met the UAE’s state-owned defense and technology conglomerate EDGE Group Chairman Faisal Al Bannai at IDEX 2025 in Abu Dhabi on Monday to discuss a plan to form a strategic partnership between the two defense majors.

At the meeting, Kim specifically reached out to Al Bannai, also Secretary General of UAE’s Advanced Technology Research Council, to discuss working together to build an air defense system in the Middle Eastern state, using a Korea-made long-range surface-to-air missile (L-SAM) interception system.

Demand for air defense systems is on the rise in the Middle East due to high frequencies of rocket attacks and threats by terrorist groups in connection with Islamic extremists.

If the two sides agree on the air defense deal, the UAE would be the first L-SAM customer in the region, paving the way for the L-SAM's exports to the Middle East.   

The defense market in the Middle East and Africa is forecast to grow to $117.4 billion in 2029 from $138.4 billion in 2024, according to a market intelligence firm Mordor Intelligence.

Middle Eastern countries’ spending on defense against their total gross domestic product stands between 5% and 9%, higher than the global average of 2.3%.

Considering that the US government under President Donald Trump has demanded its allies in the Middle East such as Israel, Egypt and Jordan to chip in more in military aid, the region’s defense spending is expected to increase.

L-SAM AFTER THE M-SAM SYSTEM

Developed last year by Hanwha Aerospace with South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and other local defense companies, the L-SAM system is considered Korea’s answer to a US anti-missile system Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD),

It made its first global debut on the global market at IDEX 2025.

The L-SAM is an upper-tier missile defense system for the medium-range surface-to-air missile (M-SAM) system, which has already been exported to several countries including the UAE.

The UAE signed a $3.5 billion contract with Hanwha Aerospace in 2022 to install the M-SAM system, dubbed Cheongung II. Abu Dhabi was the first customer of the M-SAM.

The L-SAM is designed to intercept ballistic threats at altitudes between 50 and 60 kilometers. It employs a hit-to-kill interception method and can be integrated with lower-tier air defense systems.

The M-SAM operates within a range of 20 to 50 kilometers, with an interception altitude of 15 to 40 kilometers depending on the target type.

While Korean defense company LIG Nex1 Co. manufactures missiles and integrated systems for the M-SAM systems, Hanwha Systems Co. produces radars, or multi-function radars (MFRs), and Hanwha Aerospace Co. makes the launchers and vehicles.

In 2022, Hanwha signed a 2 trillion won ($1.4 billion) contract with Egypt to export the K-9 Thunder, a self-propelled howitzer, and the K-10 ammunition resupply vehicles.

The group also bagged a 940 billion won order to supply M-SAM launchers to Saudi Arabia.

To further drive exports of its defense systems, Hanwha Group hired Michael Coulter, a former senior executive at US-based Italian defense firm Leonardo DRS, late last year as head of Hanwha Aerospace’s global defense business, marking the first foreign global chief of the Korean defense giant.

Hanwha Aerospace shares traded down 1.6% on Wednesday morning, taking a breather after a more than 20% gain in the previous three consecutive sessions. 

Write to Jin-Won Kim at jin1@hankyung.com

Sookyung Seo edited this article.