MELBOURNE — South Korea’s Hanwha is set to invest in a new $1 billion plant in the United States to produce Modular Charge Systems (MCS) for 155mm howitzer ammunition as it seeks for its US subsidiary to become a full-fledged American defense company, according to a company official.
“Our goal is to bring this vertically integrated, fully automated production capability to the United States,” Lee Woo Jin, plant manager at Hanwha’s existing ammunition plant in Yeosu, South Korea, told a group of reporters during a visit to one the of company’s facilities recently.
The company is currently looking at possible sites for the facility, which will feature automated production lines and will be based on its existing plants in South Korea. Company officials said an announcement is expected later this month.
Company officials said Hanwha expects that the new facility, in which it is investing its own money to build, will start construction in 2026 and should be producing fully US-localized modular charges using US-made raw materials by 2030. The company expects the new facility to create around 200 jobs and bring in $500 million in annual revenue when fully up and running.
It will be the first such plant that it is building outside of South Korea and is part of Hanwha’s wider efforts to become a strategic defense partner to the US, Lee said. According to Lee, Hanwha Defense USA has already started hiring US-based engineers to carry out design work on the facility and expects to begin environmental permit submissions in January.
That means that the site will be able to manufacture nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin as well as to process wetted nitroguanidine, before turning them into what is known as triple-base propellants.
These are packed into combustible cartridge case modules, with multiple modules assembled into complete MCS units, such as the Modular Artillery Charge System (MACS) used by the US Army’s 39 cal. 155mm howitzers, as well as those designed for 52 cal. howitzers that the US Army is evaluating for its Self-Propelled Howitzer Modernization (SPH-M) program. Artillery ammunition, especially the 155mm, has been in great demand ever since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forced Kyiv to push Moscow’s forces back, especially with long-range artillery.
“By bringing this state-of-the-art manufacturing line to the US, we will be able to provide the US Army with a domestic source of triple-base propellant,” Lee told reporters during the visit. (Along with the other outlets, Breaking Defense accepted travel and accommodation from Hanwha for the trip.)
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An MCS is a modern propellant system for 155mm howitzers that replaces traditional bagged charges with individual, combustible case modules for propelling howitzer shells. They can be combined in various configurations to achieve different ranges and muzzle velocities, which proponents say improves safety, simplifies logistics and eliminates propellant waste.
The plant in Yeosu currently produces 1.2 million modules per year with plans to scale up to 1.6 million in 2028. The company is also building a second facility at Boeun, which it expects to reach a similar capacity in 2027.
The US facility could also see a future expasion to eventually establish a Base Bleed Unit facility to manufacture base bleed artillery shells — specially designed shells for extended range — which Hanwha estimates will being the workforce at the plant to 300. It has also flagged the possibility of expanding its portfolio to include the production of rocket motors for artillery rockets and missiles in the United States, subject to market demand.
Any future rocket motor expansion would be similar to its existing facilities at Daejon in South Korea if the plans eventuate, said plant manager Jae Woong Ga during a visit to that facility. The location produces guided rockets such as the Chunmoo artillery rocket system as well as the Korean Tactical Surface to Surface Missile (KTSSM) for South Korea’s military and export customers.
Hanwha is currently involved in over 90 percent of South Korea’s warhead and propulsion-system market, having started producing artillery charges in the 1970s.