Hanwha aims to expand U.S. MRO service to aircraft

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Hanwha aims to expand U.S. MRO service to aircraft

Published: 27 Apr. 2025, 12:00

LEE JAE-LIM
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

A Hanwha Aerospace employee explains about the company’s engine testing facility at Changwon, South Gyeongsang, during a press tour on April 24. [HANWHA AEROSPACE]

CHANGWON, South Gyeongsang — Hanwha Aerospace is seeking to expand its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) service for the United States from naval platforms to aircraft engines as Washington moves closer to naming pilot partners for a pending sustainment initiative aimed at boosting military readiness abroad.

The initiative, known as the Regional Sustainment Framework (RSF), launched under the Joe Biden administration last year, focuses on reducing reliance on U.S.-based depots by establishing regional support hubs.

According to industry sources, an announcement is expected this summer during the annual Logistics Coordination Council, a bilateral arms forum held between the United States and Korea to align on logistics and defense strategy.

“We anticipate that the RSF pilot program will center on F-16 sustainment operations within the U.S. 7th Air Force stationed in Korea, including both airframe and engine maintenance,” said Hanwha Aerospace’s Baek Il-seong, a senior manager of the MRO strategy team, during a press interview after the media tour of the Changwon plant that produces and conducts maintenance services for aircraft engines on Thursday.

“These discussions are progressing, and we believe the formal rollout of the RSF program is drawing closer.”

Hanwha Aerospace is the only Korean company to have full end-to-end capabilities to produce and provide MRO services for aircraft engines, making it a strong contender to participate in the framework if Korea is officially named a defense sustainment partner for the U.S. military.

Hanwha sees the framework as an entry point into the overseas MRO market, which has so far been driven entirely by domestic demand.

Hanwha Aerospace employees perform maintenance work at the company’s Changwon plant in South Gyeongsang on April 24. [HANWHA AEROSPACE]

Dr. Nelson K. Williams, director for the framework in the Indo-Pacific region, and other U.S. defense officials inspected Hanwha Aerospace’s Changwon facility last month, along with other defense companies.

“[The team’s] exact wording was ‘satisfactory,’” Baek said. “There are a few key conditions to be met regarding facility operations for maintenance, such as equipment, talent and security. I believe that Hanwha Aerospace scored particularly high on security aspects.”

Cutting the lead time on maintenance operations is crucial, not just for cutting the cost of shipping engines back and forth, but for enhancing overall combat readiness.

Although the initiative began under a previous U.S. administration, the company believes it is unlikely to be rolled back, unlike others that have faced reversals under the Donald Trump administration, due to the current president’s emphasis on efficiency.

The delay is largely due to the fact that the framework is a government-led initiative, with the U.S. Department of Defense needing to collect demands from each military branch before proceeding.

Another similar program was launched in February by the U.S. Air Force. Dubbed Global Enterprise Network for Universal Sustainment, or Genus, the initiative is nested within the RSF and plans to establish repair facilities in the Indo-Pacific region including Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Korea.

“The fundamental reason behind the launch of the RSF program is the growing difficulty in fully supporting U.S. forces stationed overseas solely from the U.S. mainland,” said Baek.

A landscape of Hanwha Aerospace's Changwon plant in South Gyeongsang [HANWHA AEROSPACE]

“The program is designed to address that challenge by establishing regionally based alternatives, and for that reason, we expect it to continue progressing.”

Hanwha Aerospace currently has the capacity to overhaul up to four F100 engine modules per month, with a similar monthly rate for T700 engines. The company is leveraging its experience with the widely used F404 and F414 engines — both staples in U.S. and allied military fleets — as the long-term value goal as Korea settles as a major aero hub.

Since entering the aircraft engine business in 1979, Hanwha has produced more than 10,000 engines and completed over 5,700 overhauls across multiple platforms, including the F-16, TA-50 and T700 helicopter engines as well as naval propulsion systems.

The company is open to the option of overhauling fifth-generation engines while currently focusing on fourth-generation as long as there is demand.

“We’ll try to provide a full package of services as the framework advances,” Baek said.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [[email protected]]