Hanwha Aerospace(012450) presented a development direction for aircraft engines under "One Sky," which integrates manned and unmanned aircraft. The aim is to create a virtuous cycle in which technology from the existing aircraft engine business is applied to future engine development, and the resulting technologies and methods are then used to strengthen the competitiveness of existing engines.
Hanwha Aerospace said on the 28th that it unveiled this development direction at the Gas Turbine Symposium 2026 held in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, on the 27th. The company intends to advance both the unmanned era, where speed, cost-effectiveness, and mass production are key, and the manned, high-performance-centric existing business, because the ability to rapidly secure large volumes of air power at a reasonable expense is becoming more important.
Kim Sean, a vice president at Hanwha Aerospace, said in a special lecture that day, "To quickly develop aircraft engines that meet rapidly changing security environments and new market demands, we must actively leverage the technologies and experience we have already secured," adding, "If we utilize the technologies and experience Hanwha has accumulated by developing and mass-producing dozens of engines over the past 47 years, we can develop aircraft engines quickly and economically while minimizing risk."
Hanwha Aerospace defined these technologies and experience as "We Know Sky." Hanwha Aerospace has experience resolving more than 1,000 trial-and-error issues through over 10,000 engine test runs. It is also building a database of 35,000 items for aircraft-engine materials. Based on a global supply chain network spanning the United States and Vietnam and smart factories, it has also secured capabilities to comprehensively manage quality, expense, and delivery schedules.
On this basis, Hanwha Aerospace in July unveiled prototypes of a 5,500-pound (lbf) turbofan engine for "low-observable unmanned loyal wingmen," developed with domestic, independent technology, and a roughly 1,400-horsepower turboprop engine for "medium-altitude unmanned aircraft." It also decided to participate in government-led development of a 10,000-pound turbofan engine to be mounted on "stealth unmanned aircraft," and an "advanced aircraft engine" to be developed for next-generation fighters such as the KF-21.
Hanwha Aerospace also developed En-genius, an in-house artificial intelligence (AI) model trained on aircraft engine databases accumulated over decades. The goal is to minimize risks that may arise during engine development and to boldly incorporate innovative ideas.
Vice President Kim said, "Each time an engine test fails, it adds tens of billions of won in expense and at least several months of time," adding, "We need a development framework that minimizes trial and error, and AI can play a central role." Kim added, "Based on the technologies and experience Hanwha possesses, we will do our best to ensure Korea leads the future aviation market."