Achieves Over 80% Near-Infrared Reflectance
Stealth Performance and Energy Efficiency Expected to Improve
Hanwha Ocean has succeeded in developing industry-leading performance coatings that can enhance operational capabilities and survival rates in the operation of the Republic of Korea Navy's next-generation warships.
Conceptual diagram of the expected effects when Hanwha Ocean applies heat-resistant coating to KDDX. Provided by Hanwha Ocean
On the 10th, Hanwha Ocean announced that it has developed a highly weather-resistant heat-reflective coating for warships in collaboration with a domestic paint company and has internally completed related performance evaluations.
The highly weather-resistant heat-reflective coating refers to a coating that helps deliver optimal performance under extreme climate and marine conditions such as ultraviolet rays, wind, heat, and cold during warship operations.
Currently, major advanced defense countries worldwide have adopted highly weather-resistant heat-reflective coatings that reduce infrared signals emitted from the hull as a standard to improve the stealth performance of their operational warships.
Hanwha Ocean’s heat-reflective coating reflects more than 80% of near-infrared rays, which are the main cause of temperature rise. This is up to 60% superior compared to the industry average near-infrared reflectance. It also achieved an effect of reducing internal temperature increases by up to 40%.
This heat-reflective coating plays a decisive role in effectively suppressing the rise in hull and internal temperatures of warships, thereby lowering the operating rate of cooling devices. The energy efficiency of the warship is also expected to improve by up to 14%.
Hanwha Ocean’s heat-reflective coating also significantly contributes to enhancing the stealth function of warships. When the hull temperature of the warship decreases, the infrared signals emitted externally are reduced, decreasing the likelihood of detection by enemy ships.
In particular, the coating developed this time boasts higher durability than coatings applied to existing warship outer plates by utilizing a high-performance polymer resin called polysiloxane resin.
A Hanwha Ocean official stated, “The coating developed this time is a new technology to be fully applied to next-generation warships and is considered one of the core elements of evolutionary design. Based on this, Hanwha Ocean will continue to enhance its competitiveness in warship orders.”
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