Hanwha Philly Shipyard to Build Missile-Tracking Ships for US Missile Defense Agency

Hanwha Philly Shipyard (HPSI) has received the award to build the new Missile Range Instrumentation Vessel (MRIV) for the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA), under a contract covering up to three vessels, one of which has already been formally ordered. TOTE Services will act as the vessel construction manager (VCM) for the program, after signing a contract with the US Maritime Administration (MARAD) and immediately awarding the construction subcontract to Hanwha Philly.

The MRIVs will have a length of approximately 525 feet and will replace the Pacific Tracker and Pacific Collector, built in 1965 and 1970 respectively, which currently carry out missile range instrumentation missions. The design of the new vessels is based on the National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV) platform, which Hanwha Philly and TOTE already build for MARAD; according to TOTE, the two designs share approximately 70% commonality, which, according to Maritime Executive, represents substantial commonality with the existing platform.

The program's first vessel, which will be named Golden Defender according to gCaptain, is scheduled for delivery in 2030. The agreement builds on a contract announced in July, when MARAD had selected Hanwha Philly and TOTE Services to build the MRIVs, and according to TOTE the design advancement process, contract negotiation and firm fixed-price agreement were completed in under three months, compared with processes that under traditional government contracting can take a year or more.

Under the vessel construction manager (VCM) model, MARAD contracts TOTE to manage the shipbuilding program, while TOTE awards and oversees the construction contracts with the shipyards. TOTE and Hanwha estimate that this scheme can reduce acquisition costs by at least 50% compared with traditional government contracting methods. David Kim, CEO of Hanwha Philly Shipyard, said the MRIV program demonstrates the value of maintaining an active and capable shipbuilding industrial base in the United States, while Jeff Dixon, president of TOTE Services, noted that the contract signing and execution of the subcontract with the shipyard bring the delivery of the next generation of US defense capability closer.

The MRIVs, equipped with large radar units, will be used to track and analyze missile flights during tests and will be deployed at the MDA's missile test ranges in support of the Trump administration's Golden Dome project. The program is part of the United States' renewed emphasis on strengthening the domestic maritime industrial base and expanding domestic shipbuilding capacity, and involves cooperation between the Department of Transportation, the Department of War and the MDA. According to gCaptain, the Philadelphia shipyard currently employs more than 2,000 production workers following an expansion linked to the NSMV program, and TOTE adds this contract to its portfolio of government shipbuilding projects, which includes an agreement worth up to $2.2 billion to manage construction of the US Navy and Marine Corps' new fleet of Medium Landing Ships.