HD Hyundai announced that it has signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Anduril Industries, a U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) defense company, for collaboration on vessel development on the 7th.
This memorandum of understanding (MOU) concretizes the agreement reached between the two companies in April. The two parties agreed to provide HD Hyundai's AI vessel autonomy technology and vessel design and construction technology, along with Anduril's Mission Autonomy solution.
Specifically, in the Korean market, Anduril's Mission Autonomy solution will be installed on the unmanned surface vessel being developed by HD Hyundai, while in the U.S. market, HD Hyundai will be responsible for the design and construction of manned and unmanned vessels led by Anduril and will supply AI vessel autonomy technology.
In addition, the two companies agreed to jointly develop prototypes of unmanned surface vehicles (USV) to be showcased in both the Korean and U.S. markets. Notably, the prototype USV for the Korean market is planned to be introduced as early as 2027.
The signing ceremony for the memorandum of understanding took place the previous day at HD Hyundai's Global R&D Center in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, with attendees including Ju Won-ho, head of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' special vessel division, and Palmer Luckey, co-founder of Anduril.
Ju Won-ho said, "Unmanned vessels are essential and key elements of future naval warfare," and added, "We will develop the world's best unmanned vessels in cooperation with Anduril, which has top-level autonomy mission system technology."