WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today issued a statement applauding the U.S.–South Korea munitions partnership, highlighting NDAA efforts to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base. The Chairman welcomed the news that Hanwha Defense USA will invest $1.3 billion to build a state-of-the-art facility at Pine Bluff Arsenal to produce critical energetic materials for explosives, propellants, and munitions. This partnership between the U.S. Army and Hanwha exemplifies how allied cooperation can expand U.S. production capacity while modernizing the defense industrial base and enhancing allied deterrence.

“We need to bring new entrants into the American defense industrial base to increase competition and guard against single sources of supply, particularly on key programs like energetics and munitions. This agreement demonstrates how smart partnerships with allies can expand production against our mutual adversaries while reinforcing our domestic industrial base,” said Senator Wicker. “I appreciate Senator Cotton's leadership in advancing laws in the FY26 National Defense Authorization Act that helped make this partnership with Hanwha possible.”