Shipbuilding Contract Awarded for Missile Range Instrumentation Vessels

Hanwha Philly Shipyard (HPSI) and TOTE Services were selected to deliver the Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) Missile Range Instrumentation Vessels (MRIV). TOTE Services will serve as vessel construction manager (VCM), and HPSI will build the ships at its Philadelphia shipyard.

The MRIV will replace the Pacific Tracker and Pacific Collector, which currently support missile range instrumentation missions, and were constructed in 1965 and 1970, respectively. The selection of a VCM for the MRIV program comes as the federal government sharpens its focus on rebuilding the U.S. maritime industrial base, with shipbuilding capacity now recognized as a major national security priority.

TOTE Services and HPSI will use the same commercially managed VCM model they are currently deploying under the National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV) program for the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD). That five-vessel program has already delivered three ships, with the fourth, Lone Star State, christened today and set for delivery in the coming months, and the fifth and final vessel expected in mid-2027. The NSMV program has demonstrated how commercial management brings stronger cost control, schedule performance, and execution to complex vessel classes.

Speaking at the christening of the Lone Star State, the Director of the Office of Management and