Photo caption: A NASA crew module test article is released from the well deck of amphibious transport dock USS Somerset (LPD 25) during NASA Underway Recovery Test 12 in the Pacific Ocean, March 26, 2025. USS Somerset was built by HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division and delivered to the U.S. Navy in 2013. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Nettie Mae Manfull)

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April 4, 2025

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.

HII Focuses Hiring Practices, Soliciting Experienced Workers: USNI News reported on Wednesday that HII is focused on hiring more experienced workers to join their shipyards, rather than recruiting new employees off the street. CEO Chris Kastner told reporters on Wednesday that entry-level hires are too often leaving in their first year on the job. HII plans to strengthen its workforce by attracting people from regional workforce development centers as well as high school and community college programs geared toward shipbuilding. “People through the pipeline tend to stay more because they chose it as a career,” Kastner said. “They understand how hard it is, but they just didn’t apply and show up and think they could go and be a shipbuilder.” Kastner’s comments to reporters came Wednesday ahead of next week’s Sea Air Space exposition. During the reporter roundtable, he expressed confidence that the Trump administration’s tariffs on aluminum and steel will have little impact on HII’s supply chain given the company’s reliance on buying and building domestically, Breaking Defense reported on Wednesday. Kastner also talked about HII’s steady growth in its emerging technologies business, Defense One reported on Thursday.

Navy Pushes Submarine Construction Innovation To Meet Growing Demand: USNI News reported Monday that Adm. William Houston, head of the Navy’s nuclear propulsion program, emphasized the critical role of innovation in expanding submarine production as demand grows. Speaking at a Navy Memorial event, Houston highlighted efforts to streamline shipbuilding processes while maintaining quality, pointing to advancements like autonomous welding that reduce build time. Defense Daily reported on Tuesday that Houston underscored that a “new collar” of worker (one who uses a combination of blue collar and white collar skills) is needed to operate machines that utilize advanced technologies that reduce time and increase efficiency. Houston also welcomed the concept of moving submarine construction toward areas not traditionally thought of as shipbuilding regions, such as Indiana, Utah and the Pacific Coast to help boost capacity and bolster the supply base. Defense Daily reported on Thursday that HII CEO Chris Kastner said adding Australian companies to the submarine supply chain will add needed capacity to the fragile industrial base.

HII Wins $133 Million Air National Guard Contract: Washington Exec reported on Wednesday that HII’s Mission Technologies division has won a $133 million contract from the U.S. Air National Guard to improve readiness and proficiency of flying units through live, virtual and constructive training. Under the 10-year task order, HII will provide expertise and staffing for distributed mission operations events at the Air National Guard’s Distributed Training Operations Center, or DTOC. Located on the Des Moines Air National Guard base, the DTOC is part of the 132d Combat Training Squadron and connects more than 90 simulation sites nationwide, supporting readiness across total and joint forces. Air Force Technology reported on Thursday that HII will implement the Joint Simulation Bus, a software interface used by the Department of Defense, to enhance the DTOC’s gateway connection.

Army Seeks Industry Teams To Advance Next-Gen C2 Effort: DefenseScoop reported on Monday that the Army is looking for a team-of-teams approach for vendors to self-organize on its critical Next Generation Command and Control effort. Officials have noted that Next Gen C2 will be a clean-slate approach rather than continuing to either bolt on or work within the confines of existing systems and processes. NGC2 aims to provide commanders and units with a new approach to information, data and command and control through agile and software-based architectures. The Army is looking for more teams to contribute to the NGC2 effort, with each of them bringing their own unique capabilities rather than relying on a single vendor to perform the integration. Inside Defense reported on Tuesday that officials didn’t specify when the call to industry will be posted but the goal is to enable companies to begin NGC2 prototyping work “within the fiscal year,” said Lt. Gen. Rob Collins, principal military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army. The program is also changing the way the Army interacts with industry, in that instead of telling companies what it needs, it’s “presenting them with a problem statement and asking for help,” said Joseph Welch, deputy to the commanding general at Army Futures Command.

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

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