Hanhwa Aerospace Signs Defense Contract with Australia

Hanwha Aerospace of South Korea announced on Dec 8 that it has signed a contract with Australia to supply 129 Redback infantry fighting vehicles by 2028 for a total of 3.16 trillion won ($2.4 billion). The agreement comes after Australia selected Hanwha as a preferred bidder in July for the project worth up to A$7 billion ($4.62 billion), which the country described as the single largest investment in army capability to date.

"These vehicles will play an enormous role in improving the capability of our army, of our defence force," Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said at a news conference in Geelong, where the vehicles will be manufactured.

Australia's defence ministry said in a statement the project is expected to support approximately 2,100 jobs, including 1,800 direct jobs. The new vehicles will be built at Hanwha's facilities in Geelong in the Australian state of Victoria, with the first vehicles to be delivered in 2027.

Hanwha Group is a large South Korean business conglomerate (chaebol). Founded in 1952 as Korea Explosives Co., the group has grown into a large multi-profile business conglomerate with diverse holdings ranging from explosives to energy, materials, aerospace, mechatronics, finance, retail, and lifestyle services. In 1992, the company changed its name to "Hanwha" from its abbreviation.

Hanwha operates the largest solar module plant in the United States (1.7 GW), which is located in Dalton, Georgia. Hanwha has 466 affiliates as of 2019, 84 of which are domestic and 382 of which are international. Hanwha completed its acquisition of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) in 2023, renaming it Hanwha Ocean.