South Korea’s Hanwha Group is enhancing its proposal to secure Canada’s submarine program by partnering with Canada’s Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA) to potentially build armored vehicles in Canada, expanding the country’s defense industry. Hanwha Ocean and Hanwha Aerospace had previously submitted a bid to sell submarines, K-9 mobile artillery guns, and armored vehicles to Canada, emphasizing the establishment of an armored vehicle maintenance and manufacturing facility as part of the offer.
Hanwha executives and South Korean defense officials have expressed their interest in assisting Canada in strengthening its defense industrial capacity. The new partnership with APMA follows the extension granted by the federal government to both Hanwha Ocean and German bidder TKMS to refine the economic benefits of their bids, with the deadline for updated proposals approaching.
Industry Minister Melanie Joly has shown support for repurposing idle Canadian auto plants to produce military-grade vehicles amid the trade war with the U.S. Hanwha envisions involving its K-9 howitzers, Redback infantry fighting vehicles, Chunmoo multiple launch rocket systems, and ground drones in the partnership, all to be manufactured in Canada.
Hanwha aims to compete with General Dynamics Land Systems Canada by fully producing the new range of vehicles in Canada using Canadian labor and materials. The company anticipates creating numerous automotive sector jobs for Canadians and establishing a Canadian automotive business unit dedicated to designing and producing non-commercial industrial vehicles for the Canadian Armed Forces in collaboration with APMA.