Photo caption: A U.S. Marine assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 364 (Reinforced), 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, observes San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26), while transiting to conduct a vertical assault raid as part of routine operations and integrated training off the coast of California. USS John P. Murtha was built at HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division and delivered to the U.S. Navy in 2016. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Mary R. Jenni)

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Aug. 21, 2026

HII’s Weekly News Digest is compiled every Friday by the Corporate Communications team to summarize and highlight news stories of significance to the company.

Aircraft Carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) Successfully Completes Acceptance Trials: The Virginian-Pilot reported on Monday that Ford-class aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) has completed acceptance trials. The ship is undergoing final outfitting at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division. Last week, Kennedy spent four days in the Atlantic Ocean during crew-led tests that evaluated whether the ship is built within contractual specifications and crew members are adequately trained to operate it. The Navy Times reported on Monday that the ship successfully completed builder’s sea trials in February. Kennedy is still slated to be delivered to the Navy in early 2027.

Navy Sends Virginia-Class Submarine Massachusetts (SSN 798) Into Service: The Defense Post reported on Tuesday that USS Massachusetts (SSN 798), the seventh Block IV Virginia-class nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine, is ready for operational duties. During its shakedown trials, SSN 798 reportedly showed excellent condition and readiness for combat operations, prompting the Navy to skip the vessel undergoing the usual post-shakedown availability (PSA) — a period of maintenance to fix problems discovered during testing. HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division delivered USS Massachusetts to the Navy in November 2025, and the submarine was commissioned in March 2026 in Boston Harbor. Waiving the boat’s PSA enables the Navy to receive a new combat capability faster, while enabling the shipbuilders to work on other submarines, said Vice Adm. Rob Gaucher, director of Submarine Programs. Interesting Engineering reported on Tuesday that USS Massachusetts is equipped for anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, intelligence gathering, surveillance, strike missions, special operations, and mine warfare.

Vessel Construction Manager Evaluating Third Shipyard For Landing Ship: Inside Defense reported on Thursday that vessel construction manager TOTE Services is eager to move out at “commercial speed” to begin building the first eight landing ship mediums that have been authorized and funded by Congress. The Navy had already picked Bollinger Shipyards to build one LSM and Fincantieri Marinette Marine to build four more prior to TOTE being named the vessel construction manager. TOTE is now in charge of finalizing pricing details, inking official contracts and deciding on the best award strategy for the remaining three vessels. TOTE is also searching for a third shipyard to build the McClung-class ships while preparing to award production subcontracts before the end of the 2026 calendar year. The Marine Corps wants 35 LSMs and delivery of the first by the fall of 2029. TOTE is working to establish LSM pricing details with Bollinger and Fincantieri as well as candidates for the additional third builder.

Army Seeks New Intelligence Tools From Industry: Breaking Defense reported on Tuesday that the Army is preparing a guiding document that will serve as a broad outline of intelligence-related problems facing soldiers that top service officials hope can be solved with private industry-developed tools. The characteristics of need (CoN) for intelligence is the third such guiding document created by the Army, following one for next generation command-and-control in May 2024 and another for electromagnetic spectrum operations in February. Those previous CoNs have already proved successful, said Joseph Welch, portfolio acquisition executive for command and control and counter-command and control, during the annual TechNet Augusta conference. Welch plans to continue building these CoNs for his entire portfolio, with the next one focused on training and simulation.

Valiant Shield Exercise Tests Digital Manufacturing Exchange: Defense Scoop reported on Wednesday that the U.S. armed services are now using a Digital Manufacturing Exchange that links warfighters with the companies that build their equipment. The DMX aims to help frontline troops get parts quickly, locally and without having to rely solely on lengthy supply chains. The concept reached a critical milestone during the Valiant Shield 2026 exercise, where a Japanese manufacturer, MadeHere K.K., helped Marines produce parts from intellectual property Oshkosh Defense agreed to let the military transfer through the exchange. During Valiant Shield, DMX transferred data from other services, such as Army aviation schematics for UH-60 Black Hawk parts. Officials also tested how the ecosystem would work in a limited connectivity environment, a top concern for the military as increasingly sophisticated adversaries are able to disrupt networks. All told, the program produced 19 components from 11 unique parts during the exercise, using data from the Navy, Marine Corps, Army and Oshkosh. The military expects to compensate defense companies for letting it transfer IP through the DMX. How that will shake out is not clear yet.

HII’s Weekly News Digest is produced by HII’s Corporate Communications team and posted to MyHII every Friday.

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