Hanwha and HavocAI Formalize Partnership to Develop 200-Foot Autonomous Surface Vessel
Subject: JVN
ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — On Thursday, Hanwha Defense USA (HDUSA), Hanwha Systems Co (HSC), and U.S.-based collaborative autonomy company HavocAI announced they will jointly develop 200-foot autonomous surface vessels (ASV). This agreement pairs the leading global shipbuilding company with the most advanced collaborative autonomy technology on the market.
Hanwha is currently the only shipbuilder with an operational shipyard in the United States to enter into a joint agreement with an autonomous vessels company. Hanwha Philly Shipyard is under consideration to produce the 200-foot autonomous ASV.
HavocAI recently closed a $85m funding round, publicly confirmed the sale of dozens of vessels to the U.S. Department of War, and successfully demonstrated their collaborative autonomy technology in GPS-denied environments to Ukrainian officials.
“By forging a partnership between an allied defense company with advanced manufacturing scale in Hanwha with a software-first defense technology company in HavocAI, we will deliver state-of-the art ASVs at scale for American service members,” said Hanwha Defense USA CEO Michael Coulter. “This agreement will not only deliver for the American warfighter but will create much-needed competition for the Department of War acquisition process.”
“The Department of War has sent a clear demand signal to the shipbuilding industry: we need more boats, faster, with more capabilities, for less money,” said Paul Lwin, Co-founder and CEO of HavocAI. “Partnerships like this ? pairing a leading-edge technology with an established global infrastructure ? are exactly how we achieve that goal.”
Under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the companies will jointly develop these ASVs to include mass production planning, installation, proposal development, and technical domains.
Production will be pursuant to the U.S. Government’s Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops solicitation program.
Last October, Hanwha and Havoc AI announced a strategic relationship following a joint technology demonstration from Hanwha Ocean’s Geoje shipyard in Korea where Havoc AI conducted an autonomous force protection mission off the coast of Hawaii, with beyond-line-of-sight command and control from Geoje.
About Hanwha Defense USA
A subsidiary of Hanwha Aerospace, Hanwha Defense USA delivers proven platforms with a demonstrated process maturity successfully projected across numerous markets and supply chains across the globe, with a track record of developing local workforces required to produce and sustain across product life cycles to meet the needs of warfighters and industrial base partners. HDUSA continues to expand its U.S. footprint through organic growth, strategic industrial partnerships, and selective business acquisition. For more information on Hanwha Defense USA, please visit www.hanwhadefenseusa.com.
About HavocAI
HavocAI is the first-to-market leader in collaborative maritime autonomy, delivering scalable, multi-domain autonomous solutions that are operational today. Founded in 2024 and headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, HavocAI has rapidly emerged as the leading provider of autonomous maritime systems to the U.S. military, with more than 30 fully operational products delivered and a collaborative autonomy stack designed to run on anything, anywhere. For more information, visit havocai.com.
SOURCE Hanwha Defense USA
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