LIG Nex1 to invest $77 million to expand weapons production facility

LIG Nex1 Co., a leading South Korean defense company, said on Thursday it will spend 110 billion won ($77 million) on its production facility expansion to meet the growing demand for its missile and other weapons systems.

The company said the investment, to be made through 2025, is aimed at ramping up its plants 1 and 2 in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, where it manufactures state-of-the-art weaponry.

LIG Nex1 signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the investment with the Gumi city government earlier Thursday.

In January, a Korean consortium led by LIG Nex1 clinched a 2.6 trillion won ($1.8 billion) deal to export a surface-to-air missile system to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – Korea’s single largest defense system export in terms of value.

The mid-range surface-to-air missile (M-SAM) system, also known as Cheongung, meaning heaven’s bow in Korean, is one of Korea’s most advanced missile attack systems.

LIG Nex1 is the main contractor of the air defense system, working in close partnership with other Korean companies such as Hanwha Systems Co., Hanwha Defense Co. and Kia Corp.

LIG Nex1, which develops and produces a wide range of advanced precision electronic warfare systems, also manufactures a Korean Positioning System (KPS), a local version of the Global Positioning System (GPS) used by the military to determine precise locations of enemies.

In March, the company signed a 250 million Saudi riyal deal to supply electro-optical defense systems to Saudi Arabia’s Royal Naval Forces as part of a $989 million Korean defense contract with the Middle Eastern country.

LIG Nex1 has been increasing the number of its employees, with 650 new hires over the past year, equivalent to 17% of all employees.

Write to Han-Shin Park at phs@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.