Hancom Lifecare (372910.KQ), a Hancom Group affiliate specializing in firefighting, defense, and safety equipment, is entering the robotics business to cultivate unmanned firefighting robots as a new growth engine.
Hancom Lifecare announced on the 21st that it has signed a strategic business agreement for the Korean market with Shark Robotics, a French global leader in unmanned ground vehicles (UGV).
The robot series being introduced through this partnership is a proven robot platform with more than 350 units in active operation across over 25 countries worldwide. Building on this foundation, Hancom Lifecare plans to expand its business beyond conventional safety equipment manufacturing into intelligent safety solutions centered on advanced robotics.
The flagship model, COLOSSUS, is well known as "the robot that saved the cathedral" after being deployed for approximately 10 hours during the 2019 Notre-Dame Cathedral fire in Paris, where it prevented the cathedral's collapse. The 500kg-class heavy-duty robot offers powerful water discharge capacity of up to 3,800 liters per minute and traction force exceeding one ton, delivering overwhelming performance at extreme fire scenes that are difficult for firefighters to enter.
The Rhyno Protect, also being introduced, is a 200kg-class mid-sized robot that maneuvers nimbly even in tight spaces, equipped with a system optimized for response to industrial facility and urban fires. Both models adopt a modular system, allowing flexible attachment of remote-controlled unmanned water cannons, smoke extraction fans, stretchers for casualty evacuation, and CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear) reconnaissance sensors according to on-site conditions.
Through this, Hancom Lifecare's unmanned firefighting robots can stably perform fire suppression missions even in extreme environments such as high temperatures and toxic gases that are difficult for firefighters to access. The unmanned robots are particularly expected to be highly useful in responding to electric vehicle and battery fires, which have recently emerged as a social issue.
Hancom Lifecare's strategy is to capture the domestic unmanned firefighting robot market by establishing a total service system encompassing robot adoption consulting, customized solution provision, and professional after-sales service.
"The combination of safety technology that protects people with advanced robotics will serve as an innovative inflection point as Hancom Lifecare evolves into a technology-centered safety solutions company," Hancom Lifecare CEO Kim Sun-young said. "Starting with this entry into the unmanned firefighting robot business, we will secure differentiated technological competitiveness, expand our business areas across the board, and strengthen our mid-to-long-term growth momentum."
