Hanwha Philly Shipyard Awarded Contract for ‘Golden Defender’ Missile Tracking Vessel

WASHINGTON — Hanwha Philly Shipyard will construct a new missile range instrumentation vessel, designated Golden Defender, to support the Pentagon’s Golden Dome missile defense architecture, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought announced Thursday.

During a visit to the Philadelphia shipyard to christen the National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV) Lone Star State, Vought explained that OMB’s shipbuilding team identified the NSMV platform — currently in production as a training vessel for state maritime academies — as possessing broad applicability for other mission sets.

“We quickly realized that there was an emergent need that the NSMV design naturally lent itself to, and with a hot production line here in Philly, we quickly worked with our partners across government to identify the resources to support additional construction, leveraging Hanwha’s Philly Shipyard and its experienced workforce,” Vought said. “It is thus my honor to announce the awarding of a contract to build the missile range instrumentation vessel Golden Defender right here in Philadelphia under the combined management of Hanwha Philly and TOTE Services as the vessel construction manager.”

Vought emphasized that the new ship will advance the administration’s dual priorities of revitalizing the U.S. maritime industrial base and fielding the Golden Dome missile defense system. “Golden Defender will serve the Missile Defense Agency in its mission,” he added. The Missile Defense Agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Missile range instrumentation vessels are specialized platforms that track missile launches and monitor foreign weapons tests.

Golden Dome is President Donald Trump’s signature missile defense initiative, which envisions a layered architecture combining traditional air defenses with space-based interceptors to protect the homeland from a full spectrum of airborne threats.

The announcement follows a Wednesday revelation at the Defense Innovation Summit by Trump and Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) that Hanwha’s Philadelphia yard would build two additional NSMVs, though details regarding their role in supporting Golden Dome were not disclosed at the time.

Hanwha Philly Shipyard, a subsidiary of South Korea’s Hanwha Group, was acquired by Hanwha Systems and Hanwha Ocean in 2024. TOTE Services currently serves as the vessel construction manager for the NSMVs being built for the U.S. Maritime Administration and was recently named construction manager for the Navy’s Landing Ship Medium program.

Beyond the NSMV series, the yard constructs commercial vessels and has signaled ambitions to compete for Navy contracts. In April, Hanwha Defense USA President and CEO Michael Coulter told reporters the company had proposals underway for platforms such as the Landing Ship Medium.

“The Navy has expressed an interest in us broadening from the largely commercial and MARAD-based ships into everything from auxiliaries to combatants in Philly,” Coulter said at the time, adding that the company aims to increase the shipyard’s annual capacity to between ten and 20 vessels — up from the three slated for completion this year.

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