Canadian Companies and Universities Join Hanwha Ocean’s Global Submarine Supply Chain Through New Partnerships
Press Release + Noah Note
Hanwha Ocean hosts its CPSP Partners’ Day in Ottawa, further expanding its industrial alliance with Canadian Industry.
Five Teaming Agreements and three university MOUs link Ontario and Atlantic Canada to an international naval program, advancing innovation, manufacturing, and workforce development tied to the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project.
Hanwha Ocean is committed to building long-term industrial and R&D partnerships in Canada that strengthen domestic manufacturing capability, innovation, and workforce development.
Canadian companies and universities from Ontario and Atlantic Canada are stepping into a global submarine supply chain following the signing of five industry Teaming Agreements and three university Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) announced today at an Ottawa partnership event tied to Canada’s Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP).
The agreements connect Canadian manufacturers, defence technology firms, and academic institutions directly with international naval shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean and its global technology partners, creating new pathways for domestic innovation, applied research, and skilled workforce development aligned with Canada’s “Buy Canadian” policy and Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) objectives.
The partnerships were formalized during Hanwha Ocean’s CPSP Partners’ Day at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, which brought together Canadian industry leaders, universities, government stakeholders, and international defence partners.
Each Teaming Agreement is structured as a tri-party collaboration between Hanwha Ocean, a Canadian company, and a South Korean or international defence technology partner, establishing integrated cooperation frameworks across critical submarine capability areas.
The five Teaming Agreements include partnerships with the following Canadian companies:
GeoSpectrum Technologies Inc. and Ultra Maritime (both Dartmouth, Nova Scotia), partnering with Hanwha Ocean and LIG Nex1 (Korea) on underwater acoustic SONAR and undersea warfare systems;
Aspin Kemp & Associates (AKA Energy Systems) (Prince Edward Island) and J-Squared Technologies Inc. (Kanata, Ontario), partnering with Hanwha Ocean and KTE (Korea) on power distribution, electrical and control systems, embedded computing, and integrated platform management systems;
Safran Trusted 4D Canada (Montreal, Quebec), partnering with Hanwha Ocean and Safran Electronics & Defense (France) to combine Canadian integration expertise with advanced optronics, inertial navigation systems, radar, and defence electronics technologies in support of submarine and naval programs.
In parallel, Hanwha Ocean signed MOUs with the University of Toronto, University of New Brunswick, and Dalhousie University, establishing cooperation in research, innovation, and education in areas including:
AI-enabled naval and maritime systems;
Digital and simulation technologies;
Underwater acoustic and stealth technologies;
Arctic-capable vessel technologies; and
Intelligent and automated technologies for crew reduction.
The academic partnerships are intended to advance next-generation maritime and defence capabilities while supporting workforce development and applied research collaboration in Canada.
The Ottawa event was attended by representatives from Canadian economic development agencies, academia, industry, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Canada, and military stakeholders, underscoring the broader economic and strategic significance of Canada–Korea defence cooperation.
Hanwha Ocean said it will continue expanding partnerships with Canadian industry and research institutions as it advances its CPSP proposal, positioning itself as a long-term industrial partner committed to strengthening Canada’s defence ecosystem, innovation capacity, and skilled workforce.
Quotes
“CPSP represents an opportunity to build long-term industrial partnerships that deliver real value for Canada. Through these agreements, we are strengthening domestic capabilities, supporting regional economic development, and helping build a future-ready Canadian defence workforce. By combining Canada’s advanced technologies with Korea’s proven submarine manufacturing expertise, we believe we can deliver a solution aligned with Canada’s national interests.”
Glenn Copeland, CEO, Hanwha Defence Canada
“These agreements demonstrate how Canadian undersea and marine technology companies can contribute meaningfully to a global submarine program. For Atlantic Canada, this represents an opportunity to further strengthen our expertise in underwater acoustics and position regional innovation at the centre of advanced naval capability.”
Paul Yeatman, President, GeoSpectrum Technologies Inc
“Through this collaboration with Hanwha Ocean, AKA Energy Systems is bringing Canadian power integration and control system expertise into an international naval program. It’s an opportunity to showcase the homegrown innovation and skill coming from Prince Edward Island. This agreement will create opportunities for high-value engineering work in Prince Edward Island while supporting the development of more efficient and resilient maritime platforms.”
Jason Aspin, CEO AKA Energy Systems
“As a Canadian leader in marine research and education, the University of New Brunswick is proud to partner with Hanwha on this important collaboration. This agreement creates meaningful opportunities for applied research and hands-on student engagement in advanced marine and defence technologies. By aligning our academic expertise with global industry leadership, we will strengthen Canada’s maritime innovation ecosystem and long-term industrial capacity.”
Dr. Paul J. Mazerolle, President and Vice Chancellor, University of New Brunswick
“Partnering with Hanwha Ocean allows us to connect leading-edge research in areas such as artificial intelligence and advanced systems engineering with real-world maritime applications. These collaborations strengthen Canada’s innovation ecosystem, elevate our sovereign capabilities and prepare our students to contribute to complex global engineering programs.”
Illan Kramer, Director of International Research Partnerships, University of Toronto
“Dalhousie University is proud to partner with Hanwha Ocean through this Memorandum of Understanding and to support the research and talent capacity at our university committed to advancing Canada’s leadership in ocean science, marine engineering, and Arctic research. As a university deeply connected to our province and region’s maritime and defence communities, we see this collaboration as an opportunity to open pathways for our researchers and students to make important contributions to an initiative with the potential to enhance Canadian sovereignty, while accelerating innovation in AI-enabled naval systems, autonomous technologies, and Arctic-capable vessel design.”
Dr. Graham Gagnon, Dalhousie University’s Vice-President, Research and Innovation
“J-Squared Technologies’ partnership with Hanwha Ocean is a testament to decades of leadership in high-performing embedded computing and mission-critical systems integration and the power of strategic collaboration. We’re proud of contributions to the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project that are helping to advance Canada’s naval defence-industrial base and technological future.” Andrew Woollard. President. J-Squared Technologies Inc.
“Safran Trusted 4D Canada welcomes this collaboration with Hanwha Ocean as an important step in strengthening Canada’s contribution to advanced naval capabilities. Through this Teaming Agreement, we are leveraging our expertise in trusted navigation and mission-critical systems to support next-generation submarine programs while expanding Canada’s role in the global defence supply chain.”
Louis Girardin, CEO of Safran Electronics & Defence Canada
“Ultra Maritime is proud to bring advanced sovereign capabilities to the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project. With decades of proven success supporting the Royal Canadian Navy’s Victoria-class submarines, Ultra Maritime brings unmatched experience and expertise in undersea warfare, as well as an established Canadian industrial footprint.”
Peter Currie, Vice President of Finance, Ultra Marineie, Vice President of Finance, Ultra Marine
Noah Note: Quick note because I'm at an event. Hanwha can never be small with their announcements. They always gotta be four, five, nine at a time! Not that I'm gonna complain. An absolutely massive roster list here, and unlike usual Hanwha agreements that focus on MOU these are legit teaming agreements.
In that sense, coming off TKMS locking down CAE, a coup in itself, Hanwha responds by its own major moves locking down some fairly heavy hitters in Geospectrum, Ultra, and Safran in one announcement. This is being done with a fairly weird format of Hanwha moreso acting as the middle-man between Korean and Canadian industry.
Geospectrum was fairly known, but Ultra is certainly new, and a massive get to Team Korea in itself. Hanwha has now locked two of the three primary underwater systems manufacturers in Canada, missing out on General Dynamics. Ultra is of course familiar to many of you, and is the selected provider of the future underwater warfare suite for the River-class destroyer.
Geospectrum should also be known to many of you through TRAPS containerized array, but the company is active on several other fronts including in their C-BASS transducers and Lilypad offshore surveillance system. They have a fairly well established relationship with Korean industry, working with HD Hyundai as they supply TRAPS to the Philippine navy.
Safran is the interesting one here solely because it likely confirms that Hanwha plans to offer the Series 30 SOM and AOM masts for the Canadian Patrol Submarine. For those unaware, while the Batch I KSS-III utilizes this combo, the Batch II chose to add the Sero 400 from Hensoldt. This would represent a slight change from the Batch II, though minor as it was on the Batch I. I expected it anyways.
Also here is Hanwha trying to jump on the University chain. TKMS CDDE has been one of their big successes in securing partnerships, so I understand the rationale. Of course this Unicersity partmership isnt nearly as developed, but I do commend Hanwha for jumping on the University train and utilizing the capacity that Canadian educational institutions can provide.
It'll be interesting to see how these realtionships potentially develop, and how deep of an extent these partnerships are exploring from a domestic production and IP angle. Time will tell.
The runoff between TKMS and Hanwha may end in negative impacts on Canada's international relations. Could one not pursue the idea of a split contract of Hanwha subs with a B.C. HQ and another group of CD212s covering the Atlantic, Greenland and Arctic? This would allow Hanwha subs to cover the Pacific and west coast areas while TKMS subs would operate in close cooperation with Norwegian and German navies using the same subs.