Photo caption: Two MV-22B Ospreys, attached to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 165 (Reinforced), 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), conduct flight deck operations aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) as the ship steams in the Pacific Ocean, July 23, 2024. Boxer was built by HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division and commissioned by the U.S. Navy in 1995. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Normand Basque)
Aug. 9, 2024
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.
Navy Awards $1.3 Billion In Virginia-Class Submarine Funding: USNI News reported on Tuesday that the Navy has awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat $1.3 billion for long lead materials for the first Block VI Virginia-class nuclear attack submarines ahead of an expected multi-year contract. The Block VIs will be the second set of Virginia-class attack submarines to feature the Virginia Payload Module, which will meet the Navy’s requirement for a large-scale land strike missile platform after the service decommissions four Ohio-class guided-missile submarines by the end of the decade. GovCon Wire reported on Tuesday that Electric Boat received a $181 million contract modification in July to supply materials for the submarines. The first Block VI boat is included in the fiscal year 2025 Pentagon budget request currently being debated in Congress. House and Senate appropriators are calling for one attack boat in the their versions of the funding bill while the House and Senate authorizers have included two of the Block VIs in their bills.
Shipbuilders Council Of America: Increase Domestic Shipbuilding: Breaking Defense published an op-ed on Monday from Matthew Paxton, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America, who argues that Navy leadership shouldn’t turn to outsourced labor to increase shipbuilding production. Instead, Congress and the Navy should increase their investment in domestic shipyards. “Many of our shipyards have underutilized capacity that, if optimized, can achieve these ambitious and necessary goals, including building critical submarines for our allies, for both the private sector and the military alike,” Paxton wrote.
JDAC2 Gets Tested During Global Experiments: Breaking Defense reported on Tuesday that the U.S. and at least four foreign allies will try to keep an aircraft carrier and its escorts continuously connected on the high seas as they sail through waters overseen by at least three different U.S. theater combatant commands. The effort will take place during a Global Information Dominance Experiment, or GIDE, taking place later this year. Daniel Holtzman, the chief information officer for the Pentagon’s Chief Digital & AI Officer who oversees GIDE, said the effort will be the “ultimate example” of the Pentagon’s push for combined joint all-domain command and control, known as JADC2. He specifically mentioned the United Kingdom and Australia as participating in the experiment. Defense One reported on Tuesday that the experiment will test new communications strategies, as well as how well the Defense Department can adjust its procedures and policies for information sharing.
Defense News Publishes List Of Top 100 Defense Companies: Defense News published its annual list of top defense companies across the globe on Tuesday. While the publication admits the list is incomplete, the data does offer a snapshot of the state of the defense industry. HII moved to the 15th place, from 13th a year earlier, with two new Chinese companies included this year that contributed to HII’s downward placement. In this year’s list, Lockheed Martin, Aviation Industry Corporate of China and RTX placed in the top three, respectively. In total, six U.S.-based companies were included in the top 10. Defense News published commentary on Tuesday from Doug Berenson and Ian van Son who point out the list “helps illustrate the continuing struggle of the U.S. Defense Department to broaden and diversify its supplier base.” Doug Berenson is a partner in the aerospace and defense practice at the consultancy Oliver Wyman, where Ian van Son is an associate. They note that the DOD has expanded the channels through which new players can engage the department and that venture capital’s continued interest in defense startups is evidence that firms think that pursuing DOD contracts is worth the risk, even if the process is difficult.
| Social Media Highlight Of The Week
Posted Friday on HII’s LinkedIn page:
“Working at HII is more than just a job – it’s an opportunity to build your future and contribute to a mission that’s bigger than yourself. Find your perfect fit at HII.com/careers today. #BuildIt” |
NNS to Build New Quality-Of-Life Facilities: USNI News reported on Wednesday that HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding will construct two new facilities for U.S. sailors assigned to submarines undergoing overhauls. The two buildings, slated to cost $9 million, will feature a galley and housing for sailors in one facility and workspaces in the other, a spokesperson for Naval Sea Systems Command told USNI News. HII will build the new facilities close to the dry dock where USS Columbus (SSN 762) is currently undergoing an engineering overhaul. The future facilities are similar to the Carrier Refueling Overhaul Work center (CROW) announced last month that the Navy provided HII a $78 million contract modification to build.
HII’s Weekly News Digest is produced by HII’s Corporate Communications team and posted to Homeport every Friday.
Please note: Social media is blocked on HII computers for most employees. Employees are encouraged to visit HII’s Facebook page and other social media sites on personal time and from non-work devices.
Send feedback to: HII_Communications@hii-co.com.
