Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) have signed a new strategic cooperation agreement to enhance both commercial and military shipbuilding capabilities, with a specific focus on expanding US naval production capacity. The agreement was formalized during the APEC 2025 forum in Gyeongju, South Korea, signaling deepening collaboration between two of the world’s most experienced shipbuilders.
The partnership centers on a distributed production model and shared investment initiatives designed to strengthen the US industrial base for naval and auxiliary ship programs. HII and HHI will jointly pursue US Navy auxiliary ship contracts, combining HII’s proven expertise in naval ship construction with HHI’s extensive experience in large-scale commercial and support vessel design.
The agreement extends beyond shipbuilding into engineering, research, and advanced technologies, including automation, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning applications to improve efficiency and reduce costs across shipyard operations. Both companies also plan to coordinate lifecycle support for US Navy vessels stationed in the Indo-Pacific, enhancing the region’s sustainment and repair infrastructure.
This latest deal builds on a series of previous cooperative efforts between the two firms. Earlier this month, they jointly agreed to pursue the US Navy’s Next-Generation Logistics Ship (NGLS) program, which will deliver small, distributed logistics ships to support refueling, rearming, and resupply operations. In April, the two companies also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to share shipbuilding best practices, reduce costs, and shorten delivery timelines—steps that underscore their growing industrial synergy.
