rebuilding the arsenal
Hanwha Defense USA is answering the call
Investing in America
In 2026, the U.S. Army awarded Hanwha Defense USA an enhanced use lease for an advanced manufacturing facility at Pine Bluff Arsenal, Arkansas. There, HDUSA has committed $2.2 billion in self funding to onshore production of 155mm artillery propellants and components to meet surging U.S. demand. The approx. 400-acre campus will contain 750,000 sq ft of building space. Together with other investments, this facility is part of our strategy to expand the U.S. manufacturing base for energetics and propellant systems and increase national readiness by addressing the need to rebuild munitions inventories.
Advanced Manufacturing Campus in Arkansas
On September 21, 2026, Hanwha Defense USA cut the ribbon on the site of its new munitions manufacturing campus at the U.S. Army Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas. Hanwha's investment is expected to create close to 400 jobs at the site over seven years.
About the facility
Known as the HDUSA Advanced Munitions Campus, our vertically integrated facility at Pine Bluff Arsenal will produce raw energetics through propellant charges. The facility will incorporate the latest automation technology to support safer manufacturing, enhanced quality, and production at scale. The HAMC will mirror the proven, advanced processes used today in our Yeosu and Boeun facilities, featuring an even higher level of automation to improve manufacturing efficiency and output, as well as increase workforce safety. The campus will efficiently fill critical U.S. Army needs for Energetics, Artillery Modular Charges, and Base Bleed Units. The creation of hundreds of new jobs at the site will boost the economy of Pine Bluff and the surrounding region.
Planned on-site production
• Nitrocellulose •
• Modular artillery propelling charges •
• Base bleed units •
• Triple-based propellants •
Operational excellence by design
Hanwha Corporation is a vertically integrated company that produces its own energetics, propellants, pyro-devices, and other components that comprise a munition. This includes explosives that range from basic molecular explosives to cast PBX that are used in guided missile systems. The subcomponents are then integrated in-house into a full munition system.
Manufacturing at speed and scale
The U.S. has no domestic source of triple-base propellant for 155mm Modular Charge Systems — the single largest ammunition shortfall exposed by the war in Ukraine.
Hanwha Corporation’s facilities in Yeosu and Boeun, South Korea, each produce 1.5M+ modules per year.
Built for capacity
Modular Charge System (MCS) (52-cal)
Base Bleed Units (BBU) for extended-range projectiles
39-cal MACS Triple Base Propellant
Benite strands
Type 1 RDX
Nitrocellulose production