At MADEX 2025, HD HHI strengthened its global defense ties by partnering with the Portuguese Navy on shipbuilding and MRO, while signing MOUs with POSCO, Leonardo, Thales, KAI, and LIG Nex1. The company aims to boost competitiveness and lead the global naval ship market.
HD HHI Press Release Translated by Naval News
HD Hyundai is using MADEX 2025 as a platform to build a robust ‘defense industry cooperation ecosystem.’
On May 30 (Friday), HD Hyundai announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Portuguese Navy at its booth in BEXCO, Busan, during MADEX.
Through this agreement, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and the Portuguese Navy will establish a strategic partnership, not only in naval ship construction but also in various fields such as maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO).
A particularly promising area of collaboration is the development of small submarines. Based on mutual trust under the strategic partnership, HD Hyundai and the Portuguese Navy plan to jointly develop a small submarine model in the future.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries is currently developing three export-oriented submarine models, 2,300-ton, 1,500-ton, and 800-ton classes and showcased these at the MADEX exhibition to target the global submarine market.
The cooperation also extended to global defense companies. On the MADEX opening day, May 28 (Wednesday), HD Hyundai signed an MOU with POSCO for the joint development of new materials to be applied to next-generation naval hulls. It also signed MOUs with Italian defense company Leonardo and French defense company Thales to pursue mutual cooperation in the naval export sector.
Furthermore, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries signed a three-party MOU with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and LIG Nex1 to jointly develop a Korean multi-purpose unmanned mothership, expected to become a core combat asset for the future navy.
An official from HD Hyundai Heavy Industries stated, “MADEX is an event where top defense companies gather, and we strategically leveraged it as an opportunity to strengthen our competitiveness,” adding,
“Based on our advanced naval shipbuilding technology, we aim to lead the global naval export market through complementary cooperation with global defense partners.”
