A South Korean Company Could Buy One Of The US Navy's Biggest Shipbuilders

Given their importance to the nation, you may have assumed the top manufacturers of U.S. Navy ships are all American. But one of those shipbuilders, Austal USA, is actually an Australian company operating in the United States. And even that may change soon, as the South Korean Hanwha Group intends to buy Austal.

According to Reuters, Hanwha Group has offered up to $1.2 billion for Austal's U.S. operations. Since Austal builds ships for the U.S. Navy and the Coast Guard, this deal would give Hanwha a larger presence in the American defense industry. The deal is limited to Austal's American operations, and the Australian firm will retain ownership of its businesses in Australia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Austal's U.S. operations generated the vast majority of the company's pre-tax profit in 2025, but are expected to post a loss in 2026.

The proposal is not yet finalized and comes as the U.S. Navy seeks ways to expand its shipbuilding capacity. Hanwha has four weeks to examine Austal USA's business, which includes reviewing the company's contracts and operations, as well as meeting with U.S. military and government officials. Any agreement would also have to be reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency.

Hanwha's involvement with the U.S. Navy dates to 2024. That year, Hanwha became the first Korean company to perform maintenance, repair, and overhaul work on Navy vessels. That same year, Hanwha acquired Philly Shipyard, giving it a shipbuilding operation in the United States. From there, the company continued expanding its American defense presence, including securing its first U.S. Navy project, the Next Generation Logistics Ship program.

In April 2026, Hanwha announced a partnership with Miami-based Magnet Defense to develop medium unmanned surface vessels for the U.S. military. Later the same month, Hanwha began working with U.S. defense contractor Leidos on naval ship designs. More recently, Hanwha Philly Shipyard was selected to build new vessels for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency to replace two aging ships used to support missile testing.

Hanwha's expansion has also involved building the industrial capacity behind its U.S. operations. Since acquiring Philly Shipyard in 2024, the company has invested more than $200 million in the facility's workforce, capacity, and overall capability. The shipyard now employs more than 2,000 production workers, giving Hanwha a significant American manufacturing base as it continues its expansion into U.S. defense operations. It's worth noting that Hanwha is not only focused on the U.S., with the company also bidding to build "five-star hotel" attack submarines for the Canadian Navy.