Photo caption: Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) transits while underway in the Philippine Sea, Dec. 10, 2025. George Washington is the U.S. Navy’s premier forward-deployed aircraft carrier, a long-standing symbol of the United States’ commitment to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region, while operating alongside allies and partners across the U.S. Navy’s largest numbered fleet. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tyler Crowley)
Dec. 12, 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.
NNS Lays Virginia-Class Submarine Barb (SSN 804) Keel: MarineLink reported on Tuesday that HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division hosted a keel laying ceremony for Virginia-class attack submarine Barb (SSN 804). The future USS Barb will be the 31st Virginia-class attack submarine and the third Navy vessel to carry the name. The ceremony marked the formal start of construction, with ship sponsor Pamela Bove’s initials welded onto a steel plate that will remain with the submarine throughout its service life. Bove’s family has deep ties to the legacy of the previous Barb submarines, including World War II boat commanded by Adm. Eugene Fluckey. 13 News Now reported that NNS President Kari Wilkinson called the milestone a reminder of the critical national security role submarines play and emphasized the Navy’s need for more hulls. She said laying the keel reflects NNS’s commitment to delivering this capability to the fleet. The new submarine will be the 15th Virginia-class boat delivered by NNS.
HII Expands Partnership With Babcock To Support Virginia-Class Submarines: Defense Daily reported on Tuesday that HII and Babcock International Group have signed a contract to expand a partnership to support construction of Virginia-class submarines. The agreement authorizes Babcock to build complex submarine assemblies at its Rosyth, Scotland, facility for Virginia-class Block VI boats that will then be sent to HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division. Naval Technology reported on Wednesday that the agreement expands the pool of suppliers able to carry out large structure work at standards required for the Virginia-class submarine program. HII and Babcock originally established a strategic agreement in July 2023 to collaborate on naval and civil nuclear decommissioning, as well as construction projects in both the United Kingdom and United States. The companies have since collaborated on AUKUS-related projects, including the Australian Submarine Supplier Qualification program.
HII Introduces GRIMM Electronic Warfare System: Defense Daily reported on Monday that HII has debuted a new electronic warfare system that is being validated on unmanned systems to detect and attack threat emitters to give operators spectrum dominance across a broad range of missions. GRIMM® is built around the Defense Department’s Modular Payload Design Standard that is in use with small unmanned vehicles. The multi-channel GRIMM® system weighs under 2 pounds and is the size of two cell phones stacked on top of each other. The electronic warfare payload requires low power and also features open software and hardware standards that allow it to integrate, test and field quickly with different platforms, and work with existing common operating pictures. NextGenDefense reported on Thursday that subject matter experts from HII’s Mission Technologies division showcased the new tool at the Association of Old Crows’ 2025 International Symposium & Convention that took place this week in National Harbor, Maryland.
President’s Golden Fleet Begins To Take Shape: Axios reported on Sunday that President Donald Trump has signed off on the “Golden Fleet.” The Maritime Executive reported on Sunday that Navy Secretary John Phelan began to unveil elements of the fleet over the weekend. In addition to the existing roster of destroyer, amphib and submarine contracts, the Navy plans to pull in “new, non-traditional partners into the American shipbuilding ecosystem” to design and construct new classes of unmanned vessels. The service will also make “generational” investment in auxiliaries, including tankers, oilers and logistics ships. Phelan’s list also includes “a new frigate, based on an American design . . . and built on a timeline faster than the program we canceled,” he said, referring to the Constellation-class program. Trump has also hinted at building a new class of ship, such as a heavily-armed cruiser, although details of that program remain scant. Breaking Defense reported on Wednesday that the Navy hopes to have new American-designed frigates in the water in 2028. Phelan also recently told attendees at a private dinner that the new frigate would be a modified national security cutter, which was built by HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division for the U.S. Coast Guard.
| Social Media Highlight Of The Week
Posted Thursday on HII’s Facebook page:
“A major milestone for unmanned surface capability ✅ HII executives toured Breaux Brothers Enterprises in Loreauville, Louisiana, and announced that construction of a prototype of ROMULUS, the company’s new unmanned surface vessel (USV) family, has reached 30% completion. The vessel remains on schedule for sea trials in the fourth quarter of 2026. During the visit, HII leaders toured the shipyard with build partners Breaux Brothers and Incat Crowther, and reviewed progress on hull construction, integration of the HII’s Odyssey Autonomous Control System (ACS), and outfitting work. Watch a video and read more about this milestone in HII’s Newsroom” |
Navy Unveils Shipbuilding Operating System Program With Palantir: USNI News reported Tuesday that the Navy has launched a $448 million effort with Palantir to field a new ShipOS platform intended to streamline shipbuilding and repair across public and private yards. Early pilot results cited by the service include submarine schedule planning at General Dynamics Electric Boat dropping from 160 manual hours to under 10 minutes, which the Navy said shows that integrating artificial intelligence and autonomy into shipbuilding can significantly improve efficiency and accuracy. The funding for ShipOS was provided through the Reconciliation Act and builds on the previously announced Warp Speed for Warships initiative involving General Dynamics and HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division. Breaking Defense reported on Wednesday that Navy Secretary John Phelan described ShipOS as the most ambitious use of artificial intelligence in naval construction, maintenance, and repair in history. Navy officials told reporters that ShipOS will begin at the nuclear shipyards and nuclear repair yards, with the goal of producing tools that the industry will want to adopt after the two-year initial effort. The program aims to give suppliers and shipbuilders real time logistics connectivity and better visibility into schedule, cost and risk. The announcement came the same day Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unveiled the Pentagon’s new AI platform GenAI.mil, reported by Stars and Stripes. The Pentagon said the tool, powered by Google Gemini, is part of a broader push to accelerate military wide adoption of secure AI capabilities.
HII’s Weekly News Digest is produced by HII’s Corporate Communications team and posted to Homeport every Friday.
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