Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) and HD Hyundai Heavy (HHI) Industries have signed an agreement to collaborate on commercial and military ship construction, aiming to strengthen US shipbuilding capacity.
Signed at the APEC 2025 forum in Gyeongju, South Korea, the deal centers on a distributed production approach and potential shared investments.
Under the agreement, the two companies will jointly pursue US Navy auxiliary ship programs, combining HII’s experience in naval construction with HHI’s expertise in large-scale commercial and support vessels.
The collaboration extends to engineering, research, and development.
It also includes work on automation, robotics, and AI and machine learning applications in shipyard processes.
In addition, the companies plan to coordinate on lifecycle support for US Navy vessels in the Indo-Pacific, aiming to improve sustainment and repair capacity in the region.
“This partnership will generate powerful synergies by combining Korea’s cutting-edge shipbuilding technologies with the US defense sector’s strong market competitiveness,” stated HHI President Joo Won-ho.
Joint Projects
The recent announcement builds on earlier projects between the two companies.
Earlier this month, HII and HHI agreed to jointly pursue the US Navy’s Next-Generation Logistics Ship (NGLS) concept design contract.
The NGLS program aims to field small logistics ships capable of refueling, rearming, and resupplying US Navy and Marine Corps forces afloat or ashore as part of distributed, expeditionary operations.
In April, the companies signed a memorandum of understanding to share shipbuilding practices to lower costs and shorten construction schedules.
The same month, the South Korean shipbuilder offered to build Aegis destroyers for the US.
