Overview
- TOTE Services announced Friday that it awarded Hanwha Defense USA a $269 million subcontract to build one Medium Landing Ship at Hanwha Philly Shipyard with options for three more vessels.
- TOTE says construction can begin in the fourth quarter of 2027 and that the program’s first ship is now expected to deliver in 2030, slipping from an earlier 2029 target.
- The selection is the first shipyard pick under TOTE’s $2.2 billion Vessel Construction Manager (VCM) role, which centralizes program management and allocates work across multiple U.S. yards.
- Hanwha’s win is its first U.S. Navy shipbuilding contract and follows heavy investment in the Philadelphia yard that has expanded the workforce and added new facilities to handle naval work.
- The LSM is a Damen LST-100–based design meant to move small Marine units and equipment among islands in the Indo-Pacific, and TOTE’s multi-yard plan keeps Bollinger and Fincantieri engaged to build out the initial fleet.