Photo caption: YOKOSUKA, Japan (Aug. 5, 2025) — Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69) returns to Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan. Milius, which was built at HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division, is forward deployed and assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, the Navy’s largest DESRON and the U.S. 7th fleet’s principal surface force. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Taylor DiMartino)

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Aug. 8, 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.

Training Initiatives Support Shipbuilding Workforce Surge: Stars and Stripes reported on Saturday that the 1,000^th student has graduated from the U.S. Navy-funded Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing program. The 16-week program in Danville, Virginia, provides fully funded technical training for high-demand shipyard roles. The program plans to scale up to 1,000 students annually by 2027. Meanwhile, SuperTalk Mississippi reported Tuesday that Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College has launched its Defense Industry Training Accelerated Courses. HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division is a partner in the initiative that includes hands-on education in shipbuilding, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. Other participating companies include NVIDIA, OpenAI, and Amazon Web Services. Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Blanchette called the courses a key step in meeting critical workforce needs in shipbuilding. The U.S. Navy estimates that 100,000 skilled workers will be needed over the next decade to meet demand for new ship construction and fleet sustainment.

Senate Bill To Protect Public Shipyard Workers From Hiring Freezes:  Breaking Defense reported on Tuesday that a bipartisan group of senators has introduced legislation to protect public shipyard workers from hiring freezes, exempting numerous positions at the Navy’s four public shipyards from the workforce reductions that have been implemented across the federal government since January. The Protecting Public Naval Shipyards Act is co-sponsored by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; Susan Collins, R-Maine; Maggie Hassen, D-N.H.; and Angus King, I-Maine. The bill prohibits the Defense Department from targeting any of the public shipyards in Maine, Washington state, Virginia or Hawaii for workforce reductions, specifically identifying to protect tradespeople such as welders, pipefitters, engineers and positions associated with the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program. In March Adm. James Kilby, the Navy’s vice chief of naval operations, told lawmakers that public shipyards would be largely exempt from the firing of probationary federal employees and would not be subject to a hiring freeze, but now the senators said they want the protection codified. Defense News reported Wednesday that  the Navy can only hire 1,550 external personnel across all naval institutions each month, and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard alone needs 550 new personnel every year to keep up with submarine fleet maintenance, according to Shaheen’s office. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pledged to speed up the onboarding process on June 18 in front of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee.

HD HHI Wins Ship Repair Contract From US Navy: The Korea Times reported on Wednesday that HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has secured a contract for the maintenance, repair and overhaul of a U.S. Navy auxiliary ship, marking the first deal of its kind since South Korea committed to major investments in the U.S. shipbuilding sector under the two countries’ recent tariff agreement. USNS Alan Shepard, a 41,000-ton dry cargo and ammunition ship assigned to the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet, will be overhauled at a berth near HD Hyundai Mipo in the southeast city of Ulsan. The process will include propeller cleaning, the maintenance of various tanks and the inspection of onboard equipment. Work will begin in September, and the ship is scheduled to return to the U.S. Navy in November 2025. Maritime Executive reported on Wednesday that HD HHI is targeting two to three contracts from the U.S. Navy each year. The MRO business is seen as a lucrative opportunity by the Korean industry. The U.S. military is estimated to spend more than $14 billion annually on MRO contracts. The Korean yards are competing against Japan and Singapore, which are also in the MRO market.

Palantir Strikes $10 Billion Agreement With US Army: CNBC reported on Friday, Aug. 1, that Palantir has inked a contract with the U.S. Army worth up to $10 billion to meet growing warfare demands over the next decade. As part of the deal, Palantir will help the military streamline efficiencies while preparing for threats, consolidating 75 total contracts into one enterprise deal. Breaking Defense reported on Aug. 1, that the agreement falls under a new type of contract vehicle deemed an Enterprise Service Agreement — a move the Army says will help reduce cost and complexity when acquiring software. Danielle Moyer, executive director of the Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen-Proving Ground, said the agreement it will give the service more flexibility and transparency over what it gets from Palantir. The service will no longer need to buy a package of software that includes capabilities or tools it predicts it won’t use.

More Than 3,000 Boeing Workers Go On Strike: Reuters reported on Monday that more than 3,200 union members who assemble Boeing’s F-15 fighter jets and missile systems in the St. Louis area and Illinois went on strike on Monday after rejecting a second contract offer the previous day. Boeing Defense said it was ready for the work stoppage and it will implement a contingency plan that uses non-labor workers. CNBC reported on Monday that Boeing had offered a 20% general wage increase, a $5,000 ratification bonus and other improvements. Its latest offer, which the workers voted down Sunday, included wage increases for employees at the top of the pay scale and improved retirement benefits, according to the union representing the workers, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837. Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg downplayed the impact of a strike when talking with analysts on Tuesday about second quarter earnings, noting that the company had weathered a seven-week strike last year by roughly 33,000 District 751 members, who build commercial jets in the Northwest.

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

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