In a historic move that could end an 80-year ban on foreign warship construction, the U.S. Navy has officially issued two Requests for Information (RFIs) to major South Korean shipbuilders to assess their capacity to build American destroyers and fleet tankers.
Following initial reports from South Korea’s Yonhap News, Naval News can confirm that the U.S. issued two RFIs to Korean yards, one pertaining to the construction of auxiliary vessels specifically medium size/tonnage fuel tankers meant for fleet replenishment, and notably one RFI for destroyer sized surface combatants. These RFIs indicate that the U.S. government is putting forward a more serious effort into the establishment of foreign building for U.S. Navy ships.
Notably, 3 companies have put in responses, with Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries submitting requests for both the tanker and destroyer contracts, and Samsung Heavy industries responding solely to the contract for the at sea replenishment tankers.
Both Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries have previous experience in building the ~8,500 ton Sejong the Great-class of Aegis destroyers, a vessel which is remarkably similar to the Arleigh Burke-class of destroyers in service with the United States Navy, another user of the Aegis combat system. These yards also produced several frigates, including for export customers in the form of Peru and the Philippines, as well as the Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin-class of destroyers.
A Closed Market No More
If these RFIs result in an order from the United States Navy, the first foreign built/designed combat ships would enter service with the United States Navy since 1947, with the almost 80 year gap resulting from the last British designed New Orleans-class cruisers leaving post World War. Since then, every U.S. Navy combat ship and the vast majority of the auxiliary fleet has been designed and built within the United States.
This opportunity has likely been the result of several investment rounds by Korean shipbuilders in the U.S. industrial base, including $150 billion dollars committed to the commercial shipbuilding sector by Korea under a joint financing framework. Hanwha has also bought out Philly Shipyard, helping to produce commercial and training vessels for the U.S along with a partnership with Vard U.S. Marine as a subcontractor for design work on the Next Generation Logistics Ship.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2027, the Navy’s released 5 year shipbuilding plan, and the FY 2027 budget (which Naval News has previously reported on) all contained references towards allowing foreign built ships in the Navy, with this RFI being the first major step.
However, to fully allow this policy to result in ships, Congress needs to authorize a national security waiver and appropriate the requested funds, with at least some opposition likely. Additionally, it is currently unknown whether or not this is a permanent policy change, especially with the recent massive recapitalization efforts and funding poured into the American maritime industrial base.