Seoul: Hanwha Aerospace Co., a prominent defense and aerospace enterprise, announced on Thursday a dramatic surge in its third-quarter net income, which soared nearly 50-fold. This remarkable growth was primarily fueled by substantial overseas sales of K9 howitzers and Chunmoo rocket launchers. According to Yonhap News Agency, Hanwha Aerospace reported a net profit of 330.4 billion won (US$239.6 million) for the July-September quarter. This figure marks a 4,831.3 percent increase from the 6.7 billion won recorded during the same period last year, as detailed in the company's regulatory filing. Operating profit saw a substantial rise of 457.5 percent year-on-year, reaching 477.2 billion won, while sales climbed 61.9 percent to hit 2.63 trillion won. The operating profit exceeded the average estimate by 47.7 percent, based on a survey conducted by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data arm of Yonhap News Agency. Hanwha Aerospace attributed this robust financial performance to heightened demand for its K9 howitzer and Chunmoo rocket launchers, notably through export agreements with Poland. The company secured an 8.2 trillion won contract in 2022 to supply Poland with 212 K9 howitzers and 218 Chunmoo rocket launchers. This was followed by an additional contract worth 5.6 trillion won the subsequent year. The defense segment of Hanwha Aerospace reported third-quarter sales of 1.6 trillion won and an operating profit of 439.9 billion won, representing increases of 117 percent and 715 percent from the previous year, respectively. In contrast, the aerospace division experienced a 22 percent year-on-year sales increase to 477.9 billion won but reported an operating loss of 6 billion won. Looking ahead, Hanwha Aerospace anticipates continued strong performance in the fourth quarter, with plans to further enhance arms production for its export contracts with Poland.