Defense companies Thales (France) and Hanwha Aerospace (South Korea) signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) at Eurosatory on June 17. The objective of this strategic partnership is to make the guided missiles of the South Korean Chunmoo family compatible with Thales’ new European X-Fire launch platform, in order to jointly tap into export opportunities on both the international and European markets.
Chunmoo missiles for Deep Strike
The technical cooperation involves adapting three specific missile types for Thales’ Deep Strike system. These include the immediately available CGR080 guided missile with a range of approximately 80 kilometers, a medium-range missile in the 160-kilometer class called CTM-MR, and the CTM290 tactical ballistic missile, which can cover distances of up to 290 kilometers. Through this integration, the South Korean missiles will support Thales’ solution to directly meet the current operational requirements of Western armed forces in the field of long-range precision strikes.
X-Fire ground-based launch platform
The foundation for this integration is the X-Fire ground-based launch platform, jointly developed by Thales and Soframe. This modern and highly mobile system stands out for its interoperability; it is designed to fire a wide variety of long-range ammunition types regardless of the manufacturer, a capability already demonstrated during initial live-fire trials on May 20 as well as in training scenarios. The cooperation marks a deepening of industrial ties between the European and South Korean defense industries, with Hanwha leveraging the partnership to more closely integrate its guided missile technology with local industry in France and across Europe.
Flexible and interoperable solutions for Deep Strike
“This Letter of Intent strengthens our partnership and expands capabilities in long-range precision strikes to intensify cooperation on the international market. Together, we will provide flexible and interoperable solutions to meet current operational needs in Deep Strike,” said Julien Assoun, Vice President for Vehicles and Tactical Systems at Thales.
Kyoung-hoon Kang, Head of the European Business Team at Hanwha Aerospace, added: “This MoU is a starting point for combining Hanwha Aerospace’s guided missiles with Thales’ launch platforms. We will continue to seek opportunities to cooperate with local industry in France and across Europe.”
Gerhard Heiming
