Building indigenous defence industries in technologically third-tier countries

: the cases of South Korea, Israel and Poland

Abstract

This thesis examines the evolution of indigenous defence industries in South Korea, Israel, and Poland, analysing how differing strategic contexts and technological capacities shaped their approaches to military production. While existing literature often focuses on single-country or region-specific case studies, there remains a limited comparative analysis that integrates multiple theoretical perspectives to explain divergent defence-industrial trajectories over several decades. Using three major theoretical frameworks in the defence sector: strategic adaptation, security of supply, and dual-use technology rationales, the study traces each country’s defence-industrial trajectory from the 1960s to the present.

South Korea’s development is characterised by a ladder-of-production approach, leveraging US alliance support and the advantages of a large domestic market to develop indigenous weapon systems. Strategic adaptation best explains the development of major weapon systems, whereas dual-use technology remains a minor factor, playing a limited role outside of select subsystems. Israel, similarly, demonstrates how strategic adaptation—driven by persistent conflict conditions and US support—has underpinned breakthroughs in missile defence, unmanned systems, and other high-priority capabilities, while dual-use innovation has been more prominent than in South Korea. Poland’s trajectory, shaped by Warsaw Pact-era cooperative production, evolved through post-Cold War restructuring toward integration with NATO supply chains while selectively preserving domestic production in areas of national priority. Across all these phases—during the Cold War, in the run-up to NATO accession, and in the years after joining—strategic adaptation remained the main driving force behind Poland’s defence-industrial direction.

The analysis reveals that in all three cases, albeit through differing paths, strategic adaptation is the dominant framework for explaining the evolution of major defence-industrial capabilities, while the role of dual-use technology varies significantly across contexts.

Date of Award	30 Jun 2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of St Andrews
Supervisor	Marc De Vore (Supervisor) & Andrea Gilli (Supervisor)