Four major Korean defense companies made the world’s top 100 defense companies list, led by Hanwha at No. 16. Hanwha climbed six places on sharply higher 2025 defense revenue, while LIG D&A, Hyundai Rotem and KAI also stayed on the ranking for a second straight year. The ranking was based on defense revenue from the previous year, and U.S. firms still dominated the top positions.
Hanwha Aerospace's K9 self-propelled howitzer / Courtesy of Hanwha Aerospace
Four major defense companies have secured spots among the world’s top 100 defense companies, with Hanwha climbing six spots to No. 16 on sharply higher defense revenue.
According to this year’s Top 100 ranking released by U.S. magazine Defense News on Monday (local time), Hanwha, LIG Defense & Aerospace (D&A), formerly known as LIG Nex1, Hyundai Rotem and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) were all ranked on the list for a second consecutive year.
The annual ranking is based on defense revenue generated in the previous year.
