Huntington Ingalls Industries, the largest military shipbuilder in the United States, and the South Korea-based Hyundai Heavy Industries, the largest shipbuilding company in the world, have agreed to collaborate on accelerating production in support of defense and commercial priorities, the companies announced Monday.
The strategic partnership aims to leverage the combined expertise of both companies to advance technological innovation, maximize production efficiency, and strengthen the global defense industry.
The move comes as the Trump administration is seeking a sweeping maritime action plan for the U.S. commercial and military industry in a bid to catch up to China’s shipbuilding capacity.
“This partnership marks a new milestone for both our companies and provides us with the unique opportunity to expand our expertise in shipbuilding,” said Won-ho Joo, chief executive of the naval and special ship business unit at HHI. “We look forward to working with HII to explore new possibilities and deliver even greater value to our customers.”
The memorandum of understanding was signed Monday at National Harbor in Maryland at Sea-Air-Space, the largest global maritime expo in North America.
Brian Blanchette, president of Ingalls Shipbuilding, said the agreement reflects the company’s commitment to explore all opportunities to expand U.S. shipbuilding capacity in support of national security.
“By working with our shipbuilding allies and sharing best practices, we believe this [memorandum of understanding] offers real potential to accelerate delivery of quality ships,” Mr. Blanchette said.
The companies said the memorandum of understanding is meant to increase the collective maritime industrial base strength of the U.S. and South Korea.
