Hanwha enters U.S. Navy ship design market

Hanwha will become the first South Korean company to take part directly in U.S. Navy ship design. The company said on March 30 that its U.S. subsidiaries, Hanwha Philly Shipyard and Hanwha Defense USA, will collaborate with American naval design firm VARD on the conceptual design of the Navy’s next-generation logistics support ship, or NGLS.

The contract marks Hanwha’s first U.S. Navy project since officially launching Philly Shipyard in December 2024. It is also the first instance of a South Korean firm executing a U.S. Navy project locally under the “Make American Shipbuilding Great Again” initiative aimed at revitalizing domestic shipbuilding. Hanwha expects the project to open the door to broader shipbuilding and defense operations in the United States.

The NGLS will be central to supplying fuel, materials, and rearming operations for the Navy at sea and onshore. Smaller and more agile than traditional large supply ships, the NGLS is estimated to cost about $450 million (roughly 600 billion won), around half to 60 percent of a conventional large supply vessel. The Navy plans to acquire at least 13 ships.

Hanwha and VARD will conduct market research and develop the conceptual design and optimization of the NGLS platform. The project will include applying commercial shipbuilding techniques to reduce production costs, drafting functional design plans, and conducting specialized research. Completion is expected in the first quarter of 2026.

According to the U.S. Congressional Research Service, the Navy’s annual budget for new ship construction could average roughly $35.8 billion (48 trillion won). Hanwha has already invested more than $200 million (about 270 billion won) to strengthen Philly Shipyard’s production capacity and workforce and plans to invest an additional $5 billion (roughly 7 trillion won) to increase the yard’s annual output from 1.5 ships to 20.

Last December, U.S. President Donald Trump highlighted a vision for a “golden fleet” of large ships and specifically mentioned the Philadelphia shipyard, saying, “It was a great shipyard. It was closed for a long time, but now it has reopened, working with the U.S. Navy and private companies.”

Tom Anderson, president of Hanwha Defense USA, said, “This contract is a key step in applying Hanwha’s global shipbuilding expertise to support U.S. service members.” Hanwha Defense USA, based in Arlington, Virginia, is a subsidiary of Hanwha Aerospace responsible for developing and implementing the company’s defense projects in the United States.


Won-Joo Lee takeoff@donga.com