OPINION:
SEOUL — The journey of South Korean aerospace and defense company LIG Nex1 reflects a half-century of robust ROK-U.S. alliance and defense collaboration. Originally founded in 1976 under Gold Star (now LG Electronics) to support U.S.-furnished missile systems like the NIKE Hercules and HAWK, LIG Nex1 has grown into one of South Korea’s leading companies in precision-guided weapons and integrated defense systems. Today, the company is outlining a broader approach to the United States. Rather than focusing solely on exports, LIG Nex1 is placing increased emphasis on industrial cooperation, shared standards, and sustained investment. The objective is to support collective defense while delivering capabilities better suited to operational needs in the Indo-Pacific.
This strategy draws on decades of alliance experience and responds to intensifying regional security demands. As allied forces seek to counter rapidly evolving threats, from swarming unmanned systems to long-range precision strikes, industry partners must provide solutions that are modular, interoperable, and resilient. LIG Nex1 is aligned with this shift, prioritizing combined readiness and practical integration over transactional engagements.
A key part of this effort involves building a long-term U.S. presence through local production, assembly, testing, and sustainment. These activities would support co-production of select systems, foster regulatory trust, and bring manufacturers closer to operational users. From a practical standpoint, that means designing to U.S. interface standards from the start, coordinating certification efforts early, and embedding lifecycle affordability into program planning.
These steps create mutual benefits. Localized supply chains increase resilience for U.S. and allied forces. U.S.-based operations generate skilled jobs in manufacturing, quality control, and depot-level maintenance. They also allow for faster upgrades, as feedback from the field can be rapidly incorporated into deployed systems. This contributes directly to force readiness and responsiveness in times of crisis.
LIG Nex1’s portfolio spans precision-guided munitions, seekers and sensors, data links, combat management, and system-of-systems integration. The company emphasizes open-architecture solutions that allow mission packages to be reconfigured across multiple platforms surface, subsurface, air, ground, and unmanned without extensive redesign. This modularity is increasingly important in domains such as counter-UAS, coastal defense, and networked strike, where performance must be weighed against cost, training requirements, and sustainment burden.
The company’s consistent participation in major U.S. defense exhibitions, such as Sea-Air-Space and Modern Day Marine, demonstrates its commitment to transparent engagement with government, industry, and operators. These venues provide a forum to address integration pathways, cybersecurity, and export compliance. Such topics often determine whether promising technologies can be fielded at scale. These events also allow for the sharing of lessons learned from allied exercises and comparative testing conducted under realistic conditions.
Program-level cooperation demands disciplined alignment. Timelines must be synchronized across procurement agencies, qualification protocols need to be harmonized, and supply chains must be capable of absorbing shocks. LIG Nex1 stresses lifecycle discipline in its design approach, focusing on manufacturability, sustainability, and upgradeability from the beginning. This is especially critical as systems become more software-defined and reliant on secure data exchange, common messaging standards, and cyber-hardened architectures.
As defense operations in the Indo-Pacific become more distributed and technology cycles accelerate, military forces will require capabilities that are attritable, adaptable, and seamlessly networked. Industry partners that can deliver rapid, reliable iterations will play an increasingly vital role. LIG Nex1 is positioning itself within this model: integrating quickly with U.S. and allied systems, complying fully with U.S. laws and technical standards, and investing in infrastructure that creates lasting value for both sides.
Transparency is a foundational principle in this effort. Addressing compliance and security requirements at the outset, whether related to ITAR or CMMC, builds confidence and enables programs to move forward with fewer delays. For LIG Nex1, this approach reflects a long-term commitment to building credible, enduring partnerships. That means delivering on technical promises, meeting regulatory expectations, and communicating clearly about risks, milestones, and outcomes.
The company’s strategy reflects a broader shift taking place in the U.S.-ROK defense relationship. More than ever, combined forces must train, deploy, and sustain operations together. This requires open interfaces, coordinated standards, and shared data where appropriate. It also demands an emphasis on lifecycle costs and sustainment planning from the outset. LIG Nex1 is advancing that agenda with its focus on integration, transparency, and long-term value creation.
As the United States refines its posture and acquisition priorities in the Indo-Pacific, defense firms that align with core objectives, such as interoperability, resilience, and speed to field, will be the most effective partners. LIG Nex1 is committed to contributing to this vision by building on alliance experience, expanding its industrial cooperation, and investing in the technologies that underpin deterrence and stability across the region.
• Yong Sup Kim is vice president of the Americas Representative Office for LIG Nex1.
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