U.S. And South Korean Warship Makers Ink Deal Seen To "Help Narrow Naval Race with China"

The largest military shipbuilder in the U.S. has signed a deal with a South Korean company—a move that experts say could significantly boost the U.S. Navy’s ability to build new warships and help narrow the naval race with China, particularly in fleet size, Brad Lendon reported for CNN.

The MOU was signed by Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) and South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries during a defense exhibition in Maryland. I Photo: HII

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed by Virginia-based HII (Huntington Ingalls Industries) and South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries during a defense exhibition in Maryland.

HII Executive Vice President Brian Blanchette said at the Sea-Air-Space 2025 exposition: “Today’s agreement reflects our commitment to explore all opportunities to expand U.S. shipbuilding capacity in support of national security.”

He added, “By working with our shipbuilding allies and sharing best practices, we believe this MOU offers real potential to help accelerate the delivery of quality ships.”

Hyundai Heavy Industries said in a statement that both it and HII are building Aegis destroyers—the backbones of the U.S. and South Korean surface fleets. Aegis ships offer critical protection against missile threats, including powerful ballistic missiles in the arsenals of China and North Korea.

“This MOU is particularly significant as it marks the first collaboration between two leading shipbuilding companies from Korea and the U.S., both of which have the capability to construct the world’s most advanced Aegis ships,” the statement said.

According to its website, Hyundai Heavy Industries operates the world’s largest shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea, and builds 10% of the world’s ships.

Experts have long urged the U.S. to work more closely with allies like South Korea and Japan in naval shipbuilding, as Chinese shipyards continue to churn out warships at a rapid pace—giving the People’s Liberation Army Navy the world’s largest fleet.

Joo Wonho, chief executive of naval and special shipbuilding at Hyundai Heavy, said: “We aim to enhance the shipbuilding capacities and capabilities of both nations and, furthermore, to contribute to the strengthening of bilateral security cooperation.”

South Korean lawmaker Yu Yong-weon called the agreement “a new win-win model of shipbuilding and defense industry cooperation between South Korea and the United States.”

Another South Korean shipyard, Hanwha Ocean, earlier completed a seven-month overhaul of a U.S. Military Sealift Command supply ship, the USNS Wally Schirra.

“With Korean shipyards directly participating in the enhancement of U.S. naval power, it is also expected to contribute to ROK-U.S. security cooperation, including efforts to keep China in check,” Yu said, referring to the Republic of Korea.