From parts supplier to engine maker, Hanwha Aerospace seeks new horizons

Industry

Published: 01 Jul. 2024, 15:29

From parts supplier to engine maker, Hanwha Aerospace seeks new horizons

A Hanwha Aerospace USA worker produces cases, critical parts for aircraft engines, at the company's manufacturing facility in Cheshire, Connecticut on June 25. [HANWHA AEROSPACE USA]

CHESHIRE, Connecticut — With a roaring noise, a massive fan-shaped metal structure spins as water-like coolant flows down to cool and smooth the surface.

The cooling process of the fan hub frame, an aerospace engine casing installed behind the engine’s huge main fan, is an essential phase that prevents any possible damage or defects on the surface before Hanwha Aerospace delivers it to France’s Safran, one of the Korean company’s five major clients.

Situated in Connecticut’s so-called Aerospace Alley, Hanwha Aerospace’s engine parts manufacturing facility in the city of Cheshire is where the Korean company’s U.S. subsidiary is headquartered, with more than 280 employees.

The Cheshire facility is the company's first and largest aircraft engine parts plant, where parts are made for clients that include five major international aircraft engine makers: Pratt & Whitney, General Electric, Rolls-Royce, Safran and Mitsubishi.

Nate Minami, head of business at Hanwha Aerospace USA, explains engine parts during a media tour of the company's manufacturing facility in Cheshire, Connecticut on June 25. [HANWHA AEROSPACE USA]

Driving about 10 minutes north of the Cheshire facility, another Hanwha manufacturing site in Newington bustled with the manufacturing of integrated blade rotors (IBRs) — also called bladed disks, or “blisks” — a component consisting of blades that are machined into a rotor disk to form a single part.

As the biggest recent bet by the aerospace company, IBRs are the most expensive engine part the company makes, costing around $30,000 per unit. Around 90 percent of the orders are by East Hartford-based Pratt & Whitney.

“It could be said that almost all running private aircraft are made with Hanwha-made engine parts,” said Nate Minami, head of business at Hanwha Aerospace USA, during a media tour of the plant.

“For an IBR, it’s all one piece where the blades and disks are all connected together, which translates to more efficiency, tighter pressure and boosted performance.”

Hanwha aims to increase the IBR production capacity from the current 1,400 to 2,200 units.

Hanwha Aerospace USA's manufacturing facility in the city of Cheshire, Connecticut. The facility, which is also the headquarters of Hanwha Aerospace USA, has more than 280 employees. [HANWHA AEROSPACE USA]

The media tour came as Hanwha Aerospace announced its aim of logging revenues of 2.9 trillion won ($2.1 billion) by 2032 at the Future Engine Day event commemorating the fifth anniversary of its entry into the U.S. engine parts market.

The company in 2019 acquired 100 percent of Connecticut-based EDAC Technologies for $300 million. Its sales recorded an all-time high of 252.1 billion won last year, up 20 percent compared to 2019.

Hanwha currently has four manufacturing sites in Connecticut, with a total of 545 employees.

Beyond being a parts maker, Hanwha is setting its sights higher with the goal of developing its own proprietary technology to move closer to becoming an engine maker by the end of 2036.

Hanwha Aerospace USA's manufacturing facility in the city of Newington, Connecticut. [HANWHA AEROSPACE USA]

It has been co-developing a geared turbofan, an engine for fighter jets, with Pratt & Whitney since the two signed an agreement in 2015.

“We may [also] pursue the co-development process with Rolls-Royce and General Electric, taking advantage of our headquarters in Connecticut, which is the best location to cooperate with global engine makers,” Park Myong-hwan, head of finance at Hanwha Aerospace USA, told the Korea JoongAng Daily at the event.

“Securing technologies to develop our own engine is crucial, especially in terms of national security, and Hanwha USA’s acquired experience will play a key role in achieving the goal.”

As of now, Korean firms need to get approval from the United States in order to export engines to other countries. If the United States determines there to be a conflict of its national interests with the export country, it may refuse the deal, but with domestically developed engines, the approval process is not necessary.

Aerospace is the latest focus of Hanwha Aerospace with the company's heir apparent, Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan, at the helm. The company recently shed its machinery and AI solutions businesses to restructure its business portfolio with a focus on the aerospace sector.

Hanwha Aerospace recently broke ground on engine production facilities dedicated to manufacturing F414 engines for KF-21 fighter jets under a license agreement with GE. It plans to invest 40 billion won through 2025 to set up the 16,000-square-meter (172,000-square-foot) plant equipped with smart quality control and logistics systems.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]