Hanwha Aerospace, South Korea’s largest aerospace and defense company, is seeking to expand into Argentina’s armored vehicle modernization program as the company pushes deeper into the global military maintenance market.
According to Latin American defense publication Zona Militar, Hanwha has expressed interest in participating in the Argentine Army’s effort to upgrade its fleet of aging M113 armored personnel carriers, one of the most widely deployed armored vehicles in military history.
The move underscores how South Korean defense companies are increasingly looking beyond the sale of new weapons systems and toward long-term maintenance, repair and overhaul, or MRO, contracts that can provide recurring revenue and deepen ties with foreign militaries.
Argentina has operated U.S.-made M113 vehicles since the late 1960s and has been pursuing modernization efforts since 2016 to extend the life of the aging fleet. The upgrade program calls for converting M113A1 vehicles to the M113A2 standard by replacing 314 key components, including transmissions and cooling systems, while adding updated communications systems and smoke grenade launchers.
Hanwha believes it has a competitive advantage in the program because of its experience developing and supporting the K200 armored personnel carrier, South Korea’s first domestically produced armored vehicle. The K200 was developed during the 1980s by Daewoo Heavy Industries, a predecessor of Hanwha Aerospace, in cooperation with the Agency for Defense Development, South Korea’s state-run military research institute. Because the vehicle was based on the M113 platform, Hanwha accumulated decades of expertise in maintaining and upgrading similar systems.
The company has already sought to export that know-how. In 2024, Hanwha signed a memorandum of understanding with Thailand Defense Industry, a subsidiary of Thailand’s Defense Technology Institute, to cooperate on M113 modernization projects. The company also held discussions with senior Greek Army officials last year regarding potential upgrade programs for the vehicle.
For South Korea’s defense industry, military sustainment services are becoming an increasingly important business alongside new weapons exports. More than 80,000 M113 vehicles have been exported worldwide, creating a sizable aftermarket for maintenance and upgrades.
Hanwha established a dedicated MRO division in 2023 as part of that strategy. The company has since secured a vehicle upgrade contract in Malaysia and is building an integrated defense facility in Romania that will combine research, production and MRO operations to support European customers.
The push into Argentina reflects a broader shift in South Korea’s defense industry as companies seek to turn one-time arms sales into decades-long support relationships, mirroring a business model long dominated by U.S. and European defense contractors.
