The Lone Star State glistened in the hazy morning sunshine, docked at the Hanwha Philly Shipyard. In a ceremony on Friday, the fourth of five national security multi-mission vessel (NSMMV) ships in a program to revitalize the country’s merchant marine fleet received her name.
Dignitaries, including Russell Voight, director of the Office of Management and Budget, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, and Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (D-5), were on hand for the ship naming.
The Lone Star State will cruise to Texas in late August where she’ll become a training platform for merchant mariners learning their trade at Texas A&M Maritime Academy.
Voight used the occasion to announce a $1.4 billion contract for Philly Shipyard and TOTES Services, LLC, to build the Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) Missile Range Instrumentation Vessels (MRIV). TOTE Services will serve as vessel construction manager, and Hanwha Philly Shipyard will build the ships at its Philadelphia shipyard.
A second military ship is also planned for the Philly Shipyard, bringing the total to $2 billion, officials said later.
The Hanwha Philly Shipyard’s latest NSMMV contract was also mentioned at the recent Defense and Innovation Summit convened at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle by Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.). That endeavor will support 2,000 jobs.
At that summit, McCormick said the Trump administration will invest $10 billion in Pennsylvania’s defense-related industries in Pennsylvania.
Voight told Broad + Liberty the first new military ship, Golden Defender, will be part of President Trump’s Golden Dome program to protect Americans from incoming missiles. “This new ship will not only support the president’s policy of restoring America’s Maritime dominance, but also support the President’s ‘Golden Dome’ missile defense system over the entirety of our nation. Golden Defender will serve the Missile Defense Agency in this mission,” said Voight.
Money for these two military ships to be built at the Hanwha Philly Shipyard will come from the Working Families Tax Cut Act. The ships are part of Trump’s Executive Order to Restore America’s Maritime Dominance.
The two new military ships – known as Missile Range Instrumentation Vessels (MRIV) – will replace two 50-year-old ships in the Department of War’s Missile Defense Agency fleet. In building these state-of-the-art vessels, the Trump administration is equipping our military with advanced tracking capabilities to observe missile interception tests over the Pacific Ocean, gather mission-critical data, and support range safety operations, officials said.
Duffy’s wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, christened the Lone Star State. Campos-Duffy, now the ship’s “godmother,” is a “Fox & Friends” weekend host and a bestselling author, among other accomplishments. The Duffys are the parents of nine children and have three grandchildren.
Rachel Campos-Duffy
“As an American, I feel so much pride for the hands that built this vessel,” said Campos-Duffy. “Those who build our ships and the mariners who crew them are the lifeblood of our nation’s economic survival and our national security. I’m very proud that my husband, Sean Duffy, and our president, President Trump, are 100 percent committed to revitalizing American maritime dominance. Today we send a very clear message to the world: American shipbuilding is back. And the United States of America is reclaiming her rightful place as the global commander of the sea.”
Duffy said, “These two new vessels – built by American patriots in the city our nation was founded in – will equip our military to better protect the nation and our servicemembers from foreign threats. Our department will continue its work to rekindle America’s maritime heritage and build ships at the Speed of Trump.”
In 2020, the federal government approved $325 million to build the Lone Star State.
The training ships hold 600 cadets and another 160 crew members, said Brandon Faubert, with TOTES.
Admiral Michael Fossum, superintendent of the Texas A& M Maritime Academy, said that he told Congress that if these ships were built, the six maritime academies would crew them.
“We produce up to 90 percent of all the new licensed officers entering the active, at-sea workforce every year,” Fossum said.
“There is no better bargain for the taxpayers because our hardworking families, our students, and the state government bear much of the cost. America is facing a critical mariner shortage, and Texas has stepped up. We have a record incoming class.” And the new students will be training on the “absolute best, most technical platform in the world.”
“These remarkable ships educate and train the next generation of mariners,” said Hanwha Philly Shipyard CEO David Kim. But they are also equipped to help if disaster strikes and provide humanitarian assistance, he said. “These are awesome vessels. At Hanwha Philly Shipyard, we are proud to build ships that strengthen America’s maritime future.”
Scanlon noted it was the 250th anniversary of America’s founding and welcomed the revitalization of the Philadelphia Shipyard with “our Korean allies and the grit and determination of American workers.”
The shipyard’s rebirth was a bipartisan effort “stretching back three administrations to reinvigorate American shipbuilding,” she said.
After the ceremony, Faubert led a tour of the Lone Star State, showing off its state-of-the-art features, including two bridges, with one used for training purposes. The ship is 524 feet long with an 88-foot 7-inch beam.
It has everything needed for weeks at sea, including a hospital staffed with medical personnel. The mariners use the mess hall in shifts, and stewards prepare the food.
There’s a 24-hour-a-day watch when the ship is underway, with cadets helping licensed officers. Classrooms, conference rooms, a gym and a media room are among the amenities.
The ship can help with federal or state emergencies. It has a roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) cargo ramps, a helicopter pad, modern medical/hospital facilities, and space for emergency provisions and first responders.
Under Duffy, the Maritime Administration is investing $35 million in America’s small shipyards, a 300 percent increase in funding for 2026, officials said.
They are also cutting red tape to streamline environmental review processes for deepwater ports. And the government is steering nearly $1 billion to upgrade America’s ports.
The fifth and final NSMV – the Golden State – will be delivered to California’s Cal Poly Maritime Academy in summer 2027.