Philly Shipyard to Build ‘Golden Defender’ Ship as part of New Missile Defense Program
Hanwha Philly Shipyard will build a new missile-range instrumentation vessel for the U.S. Navy that will support the Trump administration’s Golden Dome effort, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought announced Friday.
Dubbed the “Golden Defender,” the ship is based on the National Security Multi-Mission Vessel design that Hanwha is finishing for the U.S. Maritime Administration’s training ships. Hanwha will build the ships, with TOTE Services functioning as the vessel construction manager, Vought said during a ceremony at the yard in Philadelphia, Pa.
“This new ship will not only support the president’s policies of restoring American maritime dominance, but also support the president’s Golden Dome missile defense system over the entirety of our nation,” Vought said. “Golden Defender will serve the Missile Defense Agency in its mission. Additionally, this project fulfills the president’s policy of encouraging direct foreign investment in U.S. shipyards, as is being done by Hanwha at this shipyard as part of its broader vision to make shipbuilding great again.”
The new ship class would replace the aging MARAD ships SS Pacific Tracker and SS Pacific Collector, which track missile tests.
“Our shipbuilding team quickly realized that the National Security Multi-Mission Vessel design had a range of applications beyond just training ships,” Vought said.
“And so looking around, we identified requirements, we quickly realized that there was an emergent need that the NSMV design naturally lent itself to,” he continued. “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.”
During his remarks, the OMB chief addressed the ongoing debate over building U.S. warships in foreign yards.
“You’re going to continue to hear a debate across the country about so-called foreign ships,” Vought said. “Yes, they are foreign partners. Yes, they are direct foreign investment like the work that has been done here by Hanwha in the partnership with Philly Shipyard. But these are U.S. shipyards. These are U.S. ships, and these are U.S. jobs.”
The Trump administration in its Fiscal Year 2027 budget submission disclosed plans to pursue foreign designs for U.S. Navy destroyers and frigates, seeking $1.85 billion in research and development funding as part of the proposed reconciliation part of the budget. The administration is specifically eyeing Japanese and Korean designs and shipyards.
However, Congress is pushing back on the Trump administration’s plans in drafting the FY 2027 policy bill. The Senate Armed Services Committee’s draft of the National Defense Authorization Act would remove the Title 10 presidential waiver authority that allows the president to cite an undefined “national security interest” exception to purchase foreign warships for the armed forces. The SASC legislation, as it’s currently written, would allow the U.S. to buy auxiliary vessels from allied shipbuilders. Lawmakers are directing the Pentagon to pursue the so-called “Finland model,” a path Vought has touted in public speeches, in which the first few vessels for a class are built in a foreign yard, but the production line is eventually brought over to the U.S.
The House Armed Services Committee’s draft of the policy is also trying to curb the Trump administration’s plans with an amendment that would prevent any authorized funding from going toward contracts buying a warship built in a foreign yard.
