As part of the delivery of a vessel equipped with the AEGIS combat system, South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HD HHI) shipyard is aiming to position itself as a key player in a potential opening of the military shipbuilding market to supply the U.S. Navy. Although this information has not yet been confirmed, the U.S.’s plans to revitalize its naval industry, reduce costs, and seek new partners could raise expectations for increased cooperation with South Korea.
According to various reports, the U.S. Navy has plans to build 364 ships over the next 30 years, in response to the growing naval power of the People’s Republic of China. However, although the stated objective is to build at least 12 ships per year, these projects are currently experiencing delays due to various factors. For instance, only two U.S. shipyards—General Dynamics and Huntington Ingalls Industries—construct Arleigh Burke-class AEGIS destroyers, but their combined capacity is limited to just two ships annually, well below the Navy’s projected demand.
Additionally, Japan and South Korea are currently the only countries manufacturing destroyers equipped with the AEGIS combat system of the same type as those used by the U.S. Navy. However, South Korean shipyards could potentially build them at a lower cost and with a delivery time 33% shorter than their American counterparts. “We have over 250 engineers capable of designing and building AEGIS destroyers with the same level of performance as the U.S. versions,” stated the shipyard.
In line with this, Jeong Woo-man, Executive Vice President of HD HHI’s Special Ship Division, stated that their facilities are capable of producing at least one 9,800-ton Arleigh Burke-class AEGIS destroyer per year, and that this capacity could be expanded to five units annually if cooperation with the United States deepens.
In addition, the company is also looking to expand into the maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) business for U.S. Navy vessels. This U.S. initiative aims to carry out such work in allied shipyards, reducing downtime and costs while improving operational availability. As part of this effort, South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean shipyard recently completed its first MRO operation on the U.S. Navy’s logistics ship USNS Wally Schirra (T-AKE-8).
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