South Korean aerospace manufacturer Hanwha Aerospace has launched a partnership with Poland’s military academy to train defense specialists, as the company strengthens comprehensive defense cooperation with Poland to secure technical personnel and build a foundation for long-term projects while expanding its influence in the European defense market.
According to Hanwha Aerospace Europe on Monday, the company launched an educational program called the “Hanwha Global Challenger Project” in cooperation with Wrocław Land Forces Academy at the International Defense Industry Exhibition (MSPO) 2025, which concluded Friday.
The project involves a $3.32 million investment and will serve approximately 2,900 officer candidates and faculty members, providing modern educational infrastructure development, Korean training programs, and scholarships for outstanding students.
This cooperation extends beyond simple educational support and directly connects to Hanwha’s localization strategy.
The move is interpreted as a strategy to achieve long-term mutual growth with Poland’s overall defense ecosystem by building a “complete package” that combines local production, technology transfer, and personnel development.
The initiative is expected to strengthen officer training capabilities while securing specialized personnel needed for future local production projects including missiles and submarines.
“We will contribute to nurturing young officers and security leaders based on over 15 years of industrial and defense cooperation with Poland and community engagement,” Hanwha Aerospace CEO Son Jae-il emphasized at the signing ceremony.
Hanwha Aerospace is pursuing localization strategies from multiple angles. The company recently established a joint venture with Poland’s WB Group to produce Chunmoo guided missiles (CGR-080), with production facility construction, hiring, and technology transfer set to begin in earnest.
This follows the basic contract for 290 Chunmoo systems ($5.05 billion) signed with Poland’s Armament Agency in July 2022. After the first implementation contract for 218 systems in November of the same year, the company secured a second implementation contract in April last year including launchers, CGR-80, and 180-mile range guided missiles (CTM-290), achieving total results worth $1.64 billion.
The company is also accelerating local supply chain expansion. Hanwha Aerospace signed a memorandum of understanding with Poland’s Military Institute of Armament Technology under the Defense Ministry for 155mm self-propelled artillery ammunition quality certification and began joint research and technical exchanges.
Through this, the company aims to expand ammunition supply to Poland and NATO countries while building a defense network extending throughout Europe.
Meanwhile, the three defense companies – Hanwha Aerospace, Hanwha Systems, and Hanwha Ocean – set up a large integrated booth covering 3,218 square feet at MSPO 2025, showcasing advanced weapon systems across land, sea, air, and space domains.
Hanwha Ocean exhibited the 3,000-ton submarine “Jangbogo-III (KSS-III) Batch-II” and locally customized naval vessel solutions.
Hanwha Aerospace displayed the next-generation self-propelled artillery “K9A2,” while Hanwha Systems unveiled active protection systems and space and air defense solutions.
