HD Hyundai, Huntington Ingalls deepen Korea-US shipbuilding cooperation

A worker at Ingalls Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries in the U.S., performs horizontal welding using HD Hyundai's Intelligent Welding System. Courtesy of HD Hyundai

HD Hyundai and U.S. shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) are accelerating their advanced shipbuilding technology cooperation, HD Hyundai said Wednesday.

HD Hyundai said it launched a pilot project to improve production efficiency at Ingalls Shipbuilding, a division of HII, America's largest military shipbuilder.

Ingalls Shipbuilding, located in Mississippi, is the largest builder of surface combatant ships in the United States.

The project stems from a memorandum of understanding (MOU) the two companies signed at the Sea Air Space 2025 exposition in Washington last year, covering cooperation to improve shipbuilding productivity and advance shipbuilding technology.

As the first step of the pilot project, HD Hyundai is introducing its self-developed Intelligent Welding System at Ingalls Shipbuilding.

The system has already been used at HD Hyundai's own shipyards, including HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and HD Hyundai Samho.

The system was designed to make welding work safer and more efficient.

It automatically recognizes the target and conditions of a welding job and adjusts the welding position in real time, allowing a single worker to oversee multiple robots at once and step in only when necessary.

Data collected during the welding process is stored in real time for use in quality control, process improvement and tracking work history.

The MOU underlying the pilot project covers shipbuilding broadly, including building a digital shipyard through process automation and the introduction of robotics and artificial intelligence; improving production efficiency by combining the two companies' expertise in warship construction; and workforce training and participation in the equipment supply chain.

Brian Blanchette, executive vice president of HII and president of Ingalls Shipbuilding, said the cooperation would allow the companies to extend automation deeper into the production process and apply best practices from both sides to U.S. Navy shipbuilding.

An HD Hyundai Heavy Industries executive said the cooperation would further strengthen the partnership between the two companies and expand collaboration, adding that it is expected to improve efficiency in warship construction and deliver greater value to customers.

HD Hyundai has been expanding cooperation with the U.S. on shipbuilding across multiple fronts, from vessel maintenance and repair to research and development and shipyard modernization.

In July, the company signed a formal contract with Siemens in the U.S. to introduce a "next-generation marine platform," and separately signed an agreement with Fraser Industries on cooperation to modernize U.S. shipyards as part of efforts to revive the American shipbuilding industry.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.