Metal Shark Wins Contract for 13 Vietnam Patrol Boats — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Metal Shark was awarded a U.S. Government contract to build 13 Defiant-class patrol boats for Vietnam, with options for additional vessels.
- The deal builds on the company's 2017–2020 delivery of 24 purpose-built 45-foot 45 Defiant patrol boats to the Vietnam Coast Guard, following the U.S. lifting of its decades-long arms embargo on Vietnam in 2016.
- The 13 new vessels will be built at Metal Shark's Jeanerette, Louisiana production facility and share a common platform with boats already operating with U.S. and partner-nation military forces worldwide.
- Metal Shark says platform commonality will streamline training, maintenance, logistics, and lifecycle support while promoting interoperability between U.S. and Vietnamese maritime forces.
- The boats are configured for patrol, interdiction, search and rescue, and maritime law enforcement, drawing on a platform with more than 500 units delivered to date.
- CEO Chris Allard framed the contract as a foundation for "future cooperation, joint operations, and broader bilateral engagement" between the U.S. and Vietnam, while SVP of International Business Development Henry Irizarry called it a long-term commitment to the country.
Why it matters: Funded by the U.S. government and built in Louisiana, the 13-boat order extends a defense relationship that only became possible after the 2016 arms embargo lift. For Vietnam, it adds proven maritime security capacity; for Metal Shark, the standardized platform deepens its Asian foothold and ties Vietnamese forces into the same interoperable system used by U.S. and allied fleets.
Ask SkimNews
