Hanwha Defense USA takes strategic stake in Firehawk to speed solid rocket motors production.

Firehawk Aerospace said on November 3 that Hanwha Defense USA has taken a strategic stake to accelerate the Texan firm’s additive-manufactured solid rocket motor roadmap. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the move follows Firehawk’s recent 60 million dollar raise and targets faster scale-up and testing for U.S. programs.

Firehawk Aerospace, the Dallas-based energetics specialist, announced a new investment from Hanwha Defense USA on November 3, describing it as a step toward serial production of solid rocket motors built with additive manufacturing and geared to U.S. customers and primes. Firehawk did not release deal terms, though industry coverage characterizes the round as an undisclosed, strategic placement, with one outlet citing “eight figures” based on comments from CEO Will Edwards. The capital arrives weeks after Firehawk closed an oversubscribed 60 million dollar round that added a European strategic vehicle linked to Czechoslovak Group, signaling allied-market interest in resilient energetics supply.
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Firehawk’s program targets 3D-printed propellant charges and customized internal geometries, implemented with thermoplastic-based formulations oriented to extended range (Picture source: Firehawk)

Firehawk’s value proposition centers on bringing SRM into serial production through AM. The company reports sustained momentum after a 60-million-dollar raise in the autumn, combining U.S. investors with a European strategic vehicle linked to Czechoslovak Group, an indicator that the allied industrial base is seeking more resilient energy supply chains and shorter lead times. That round is now complemented by Hanwha’s participation, aligning a U.S. propulsion player with a Korean conglomerate looking for durable U.S. industrial footholds.

At the hardware level, Firehawk’s program targets 3D-printed propellant charges and customized internal geometries, implemented with thermoplastic-based formulations oriented to extended range. According to the company, AM enables repeatable, casting-free production, safer handling, and rapid iteration of internal port profiles to adjust chamber pressure ramps and thrust curves for different missile classes. U.S. Air Force TACFI funding specifically targets range-optimized propellant blends and grain designs for SRM, an area where AM shortens the cycle from design office to hot-fire.

In parallel, Firehawk cites demonstrations relevant to the U.S. Army with SRM test articles in the Javelin and Stinger size classes, indicating a trajectory at tactical scale rather than laboratory demonstrators alone. Test and firing infrastructure in West Texas, paired with containerized storage concepts for printed energetics, points to a chain designed to move from instrumented statics to integration with seeker, actuation, and lightweight airframes on a compressed schedule.

Solid rocket motors offer compact energy density, immediate response, and simplified logistics compared with liquid systems, while AM promises more consistent internal ballistics from lot to lot and the ability to tune burn rate via lattice-type internal structures or graded propellant zones. The focus is concrete. By removing bottlenecks of conventional casting and tooling delays, AM enables small batches with mission-specific impulse and thrust-time profiles, where batch casting struggles to deliver within program timelines.

The Hanwha–Firehawk link is read through availability and integration. First, a printed-propellant line sized for full-rate output reduces exposure to single-source suppliers in energetics, a persistent vulnerability in the United States and Europe since 2022. Second, shorter reconfiguration cycles for grain geometries allow program offices to iterate live-fire motors for varied CONOPS, from very-short-range counter-UAS interceptors to extended-range surface-launched munitions. For forces, this translates into faster fielding of effectors matched to threat envelopes, deeper magazines, and more predictable storage through containerization of energetics. In a joint context, missiles powered by SRM with homogeneous parameters simplify fire-control calculations and reduce uncertainty in the recognized maritime picture/common operating picture (RMP/COP) under EMCON, where pre-planned trajectories and controlled time-of-flight matter.

Hanwha is expanding its transatlantic posture through land-systems programs and industrial partnerships, consistent with its aim to anchor in NATO supply chains with local production. Its European contracts for K9 howitzers and early missile initiatives indicate a focus on local presence and technology transfer. Linking this industrial vector to a U.S. propulsion company gives both sides options: Firehawk gains capital, more assured demand channels, and potential access to broader missile integrations, while Hanwha opens a path in energetics, a capacity-constrained segment in the West.

The operation fits within a reconfiguration of the allied defense industrial and technological base (BITD). Consumption driven by Ukraine has exposed fragile nodes in propellants, explosives, and components, pushing buyers to prioritize throughput, interoperability, and national control. A reconfigurable, industrializable propulsion pipeline supports offset and co-production schemes, whether in Central Europe or the United States, and eases export by relocating more value on allied soil. If Firehawk’s AM approach yields SRM lots with predictable performance bands and safer handling, planners gain a lever to reduce the gap between consumption and replenishment, and primes gain a propulsion option that shortens cycles for new effectors without sacrificing integration discipline. As Hanwha seeks U.S. market access while growing in Europe, this tie-up signals a pragmatic convergence around energy resilience and the propulsion depth required for sustained deterrence.