Hanwha and HavocAI Team Up to Develop 200-Foot Autonomous Warships for U.S. Navy

Hanwha Defense USA and maritime autonomy startup HavocAI have formalized a strategic partnership to jointly develop and potentially mass-produce 200-foot autonomous surface vessels for the U.S. Navy, a move that could reshape how the Pentagon buys and builds warships.

The agreement pairs South Korea’s largest shipbuilding group with a fast-growing U.S. software company, combining industrial scale with autonomous control systems at a time when U.S. naval shipbuilding capacity is under strain.

According to the joint press release, Hanwha is “under consideration” to build the vessels at its Philly Shipyard in Pennsylvania, which it acquired in 2024 and is now the subject of a $5 billion expansion plan. The company is currently the only foreign shipbuilder operating a major U.S. yard positioned to enter the autonomous warship market.

“By pairing Hanwha’s manufacturing scale with HavocAI’s software-first approach, we believe we can deliver autonomous surface vessels at the speed and volume the Department of War is demanding,” said Hanwha Defense USA CEO Michael Coulter. “This partnership will also introduce much-needed competition into the naval acquisition process.”

The relationship dates back to October, when HavocAI demonstrated a beyond-line-of-sight force-protection mission off Hawaii, with command and control conducted remotely from Hanwha Ocean’s shipyard in Geoje, South Korea—roughly 5,000 miles away.

Founded in 2024 and headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, HavocAI has quickly become one of the Pentagon’s most visible maritime autonomy startups. The company recently closed an $85 million funding round and has confirmed the sale of dozens of autonomous vessels to the Department of War. Its autonomy stack has also been demonstrated in GPS-denied environments, including briefings to Ukrainian officials, highlighting its relevance in contested electronic-warfare environments.

“The Department of War has sent a clear demand signal: it needs more vessels, faster, with greater capability and at lower cost,” said HavocAI co-founder and CEO Paul Lwin. “Partnerships like this are how the industrial base starts to respond.”

Under the memorandum of understanding, the two companies will collaborate on production planning, installation, technical integration, and proposal development. The effort will combine Hanwha Ocean’s warship-building experience, Hanwha Systems’ combat-management and platform-integration capabilities, and HavocAI’s autonomy software to develop deployable platforms that could scale across defense and commercial markets.

The timing aligns with broader policy shifts in Washington. Last April, President Trump signed an executive order titled Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance, elevating ports and shipyards as national security priorities. South Korea has since earmarked $150 billion toward rebuilding U.S. shipbuilding capacity under what officials have described as a “Make American Shipbuilding Great Again” initiative.

Hanwha has moved aggressively since acquiring the Philadelphia yard for $100 million in December 2024, pledging to increase output from fewer than two vessels per year to as many as 20. By August 2025, the company had secured the largest U.S. commercial shipbuilding order in two decades, including 10 product tankers and two LNG carriers.

For the autonomous vessel market, the partnership represents a significant inflection point. While unmanned platforms have been widely discussed, few programs have combined proven autonomy software, demonstrated military use cases, and access to industrial-scale U.S. shipyard capacity.

Initial production is expected to begin within two years.

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