Initial focus on conventional submarines

Babcock International has agreed with Hanwha Aerospace to offer enhanced capabilities across Land, Air and Sea domains by combining companies’ skills through a range of solutions, with an initial focus on conventional submarines.

Under the agreement, signed during the President of Korea’s recent visit to the UK, the companies will cooperate to pursue global business development opportunities. Babcock is currently working with Hanwha on its Weapon Handling System for the Korean submarine programme and with Hanwha Ocean on other options, including the Poland and Philippine submarine projects.

This new partnership will benefit from Babcock’s longstanding experience supporting defence programmes in countries such as Canada and Poland and its Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) expertise, alongside Hanwha Aerospace’s extensive expertise in global aerospace and defence equipment.

According to Babcock CEO David Lockwood: “This announcement builds on our longstanding relationship with Hanwha in both the defence and energy sectors. This is an exciting venture that will see our organisations bring together complementary skills and expertise to forge innovative solutions for our current and future customers across the globe”.

“This Memorandum of Understanding deepens our already strong connection with Babcock, as well as our dedication to Korea-UK defence ties as we work together to address global defence challenges. As we move forward, we are keen to leverage the synergies of this partnership to strengthen our product offerings and give exceptional value to our customers around the world,” added Jae-il Son, President and CEO of Hanwha Aerospace.

In June, Babcock Canada and Hanwha Ocean Signed a Technical Cooperation Agreement enabling both companies to share their capabilities in shipbuilding and submarine sustainment in support of the CPSP and the current Victoria In-Service Support Contract (VISSC).