An undated company photograph shows the Hanwha Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia. (Hanwha Group)
Hanwha Philly Shipyard, the U.S. shipbuilding subsidiary of South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group, has secured a $2 billion contract to build two missile-tracking vessels for the U.S. military, according to the company.
The new Missile Range Instrumentation Vessels will replace the aging Pacific Tracker and Pacific Collector, which were built in 1965 and 1970, respectively, according to a Hanwha news release Monday. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency uses the older vessels to track launches and collect missile data in the Pacific.
The replacement vessels, which will be built at Hanwha Philly Shipyard at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, are funded through the Working Families Tax Cut Act, according to a U.S. Department of Transportation news release Friday.
The act also includes defense spending provisions. The project is being funded through resources allocated to the Department of Defense for shipbuilding and integrated air and missile defense, the Transportation Department said in an unsigned email Tuesday.
The new ships will provide the military “with advanced tracking capabilities to observe missile interception tests over the Pacific Ocean, gather mission-critical data, and support range safety operations,” the release said.
The first vessel is scheduled to be delivered by June 2030.
Hanwha has invested more than $200 million in upgrades to the Philadelphia shipyard since December 2024. The Hanwha shipyard secured its first Navy project in March as a subcontractor to Vard Marine on the Next Generation Logistics Ship Program, also referred to as the light replenishment oiler.
TOTE Services, a Florida-based maritime company providing ship management and vessel construction services for government and commercial customers, will serve as the construction manager for this project, according to TOTE.
Hanwha and TOTE will use the same vessel construction manager model they deployed under the U.S. Maritime Administration’s five-ship National Security Multi-Mission Vessel program, which replaces aging training ships for maritime academies.
That approach relies on a proven hull form, an active production line and an existing supply chain, which accelerates delivery and cuts acquisition costs by at least 50% compared to traditional government procurement, according to Hanwha’s release.
The companies have so far delivered three vessels under the program.
“The Maritime Administration’s proven vessel construction management model has a powerful track record of delivering critical maritime assets on time and on budget,” Stephen Carmel, the Department of Transportation’s maritime administrator, said in Friday’s release.