United States and South Korean shipbuilders finalize agreement, potentially limiting naval competition with China
Fresh Take:
America's big-league military vessel maker, Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), has inked a deal with South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) in a bid to beef up the US Navy's new shipbuilding capacity, confronting China's fleet expansion. This partnership was unveiled at a defense exposition in Maryland on Monday.
"Our partnership is a significant step in exploring opportunities to expand the US's shipbuilding capacity to support national security," said HII's Executive Vice President, Brian Blanchette, at the Sea Air Space 2025 event.
Hyundai Heavy Industries builds Aegis destroyers, the backbone of US and South Korean surface fleets, providing protection against missile threats. HHI's Ulsan shipyard, the world's largest, is capable of constructing 10% of the world's ships according to their website.
This move follows South Korea's Hanwha Ocean's acquisition of Philly Shipyard last year, which mainly builds commercial vessels but also offers maintenance and repair work on government vessels.
Analysts have long advocated for US cooperation with countries like South Korea and Japan to work jointly on naval shipbuilding, as Chinese shipyards are churning out warships at an alarming pace, developing the world's largest fleet.
While US laws currently prohibit the construction of warships in foreign yards, the agreement could lead to immediate benefits like maintenance and repairs, addressing the US Navy's extensive 36-month backlog on shipyard maintenance and hull refurbishment.
Long-term goals may involve training American workers, addressing the labor shortage that has hampered US shipbuilding capacity. Some experts even suggest that warships for the US Navy could potentially be built in South Korea, with Hyundai Heavy Industries capable of producing five or more Aegis destroyers a year, while US shipyards average two or fewer.
The partnership strengthens defense ties between the US and South Korea, and could contribute to the balance of power in strategic regions by countering China's naval expansion.
Contributions made by CNN's Gawon Bae
Insightful Integration:
- Strengthening defense ties: This partnership represents a strategic move by the US to ensure its defense ties with South Korea remain strong in the face of shared threats from China.
- Technological innovation: The HII-HHI collaboration seeks to advance technological innovation in ship design and construction, potentially leading to more efficient and cost-effective production of modern warships.
- Strategic partnership: This collaboration is critical for the US Navy as it struggles with limited infrastructure and labor shortages, hindering its ability to expand the fleet efficiently. The partnership aims to address these issues and improve the US Navy's ability to keep pace with fleet expansion of countries like China.
- In 2025, the strategic partnership between Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) and Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) might potentially see construction of American warships happening within South Korean shipyards, as South Korean shipbuilders like HHI are capable of producing several Aegis destroyers each year.
- This Korean-American partnership in shipbuilding not only strengthens defense ties between the two nations but also reflects an attempt to adopt innovative technologies in ship design and construction, with the aim of creating more cost-effective and efficient production methods for modern warships.
- As the United States grapples with challenges related to infrastructure limitations and labor shortages in the shipbuilding sector, this partnership with South Korea, a key player in the global shipbuilding business, provides an opportunity for the expansion of the US Navy's fleet capacity, thus better addressing the growing naval threats from countries like China.
