Aim for a $45 billion order! Han Hua Ocean signs cooperation agreements with three Canadian military enterprises

On May 31st, Hanwha Ocean announced that it had jointly participated in the 2024 Canada International Security and Defense Exhibition (CANSEC 2024) with Hanwha Aerospace, and had signed cooperation agreements and intention agreements with three defense companies, including Canadian Aerospace Equipment Company (CAE), Curtiss Wright Industrial Technologies, and GasTops.

It is reported that at the Submarine Professional Forum "Deep Blue Forum 2023" held in Ottawa, Canada in November last year, Hanhua Ocean signed a Memorandum of Intent (MOU) with four companies including Canadian Aviation Electronics Equipment Company (CAE), J-Squared Technologies, Modern Tree, and Des Nedhe Group.

Taking this exhibition as an opportunity, Hanhua Ocean signed a further cooperation agreement (Teaming Agreement) with Canadian Aviation Electronic Equipment Company (CAE) than MOU. In addition, Han Hua Ocean has also signed a cooperation agreement with Curtiss Wright Industrial Technologies regarding towed sonar systems, and a MOU for power system control, modeling, and simulation cooperation with GasTops.

In recent years, the Canadian government has been promoting a 12 new submarine design, construction, and maintenance project (full life cycle) worth KRW 60 trillion (approximately USD 45 billion) to replace the four Victoria class submarines imported from the UK by the Navy. Among them, the construction cost of submarines accounts for about one-third to half of the total project cost.

Hanhua Ocean Plan aims to gain a favorable position in the new submarine project being promoted in Canada through cooperation with local companies, and participate in the design, construction, and subsequent maintenance business.

"The signing of cooperation agreements and intention agreements with three Canadian defense companies this time will become an important springboard for expanding Han Hua Ocean's technical strength in Canadian submarine projects and cooperating with local Canadian enterprises," said Li Longxu, Vice President of Han Hua Ocean and Minister of Special Ship Business
The South Korean industry believes that Hanhua Ocean's move is aimed at gaining an advantage in the order grabbing battle with its competitor HD Hyundai Heavy Industry. According to the order conditions in Canada, the companies building these new submarines must purchase Canadian domestic equipment, cooperate with Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises and indigenous enterprises, and invest in technology development. For this reason, Hanhua Ocean has been promoting cooperation with Canadian defense companies, especially planning to undertake this batch of large orders through technical cooperation.

Hanhua Ocean is the 8th company in the world to successfully independently develop and build a 3000 ton submarine, and also the fifth largest submarine export enterprise in the world. It has executed the South Korean Navy's "Zhangbao Gao" class submarine I, II, and III projects and has been exporting submarines overseas since 2011, successfully making South Korea the fifth submarine export country in the world.