Photo caption: Ingalls-built amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) is underway in the Indian Ocean at sunrise. Boxer is deployed as part of the Boxer Amphibious Readiness Group/13th Marine Expeditionary Unit supporting maritime security operations in the U.S. 5th fleet area of responsibility. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy)

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Oct. 2, 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.

Navy Preliminarily Accepts Aircraft Carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79): Defense Daily reported on Wednesday that the U.S. Navy has taken “preliminary acceptance” of Ford-class carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) from HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division. The ship was moved from NNS on Tuesday and was taken out to sea before eventually returning to Naval Station Norfolk. While underway, the Navy will evaluate and test the ship’s unique systems while the crew gains operational proficiency. USNI News reported on Tuesday that the ship is 99% complete, including all its major systems. HII is performing final systems testing on the remaining four advanced weapons elevators that were not tested during acceptance sea trials conducted in August.

NNS Awarded $5 Billion Contract for USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) Overhaul: Virginia Business reported on Wednesday that USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) arrived at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division less than 24 hours after the company was awarded a nearly $5.1 billion U.S. Navy contract for the refueling and complex overhaul of the nuclear-powered Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. NNS employees will repair propellers, sea chests, shafts and rudders, as well as defueling and refueling the Truman’s power plant. This is the eighth Nimitz-class carrier that NNS has overhauled, and the process is expected to allow the ship to be used for more than 50 years. Work is expected to be completed by November 2031, when the ship will be redelivered to the U.S. Navy. Defense Daily reported on Wednesday that Truman was originally delivered to the U.S. Navy by NNS in 1998 and completed its first deployment beginning in 2000.

HII Contracted To Build 10 Unmanned Surface Vessels: USNI News reported on Tuesday that HII is among three companies that will build medium unmanned surface vessels for the U.S. Navy. Chris Miller, the Navy’s acting direct reporting portfolio manager for robotic and autonomous systems, said HII, Galliano Marine Services and Saronic will each build 10 MUSVs under Other Transaction Authority contracts. Inside Defense reported on Tuesday that three other companies, Leidos, PacMar and Sea Machines, were not selected to build the MUSVs, however, they will be eligible to receive follow-on production agreements from acquisition authorities within the Department of War’s drone marketplace. All six of the companies successfully completed at-sea testing and will be eligible as candidates for phase two, which consists of “relaxed requirements,” Miller said.

HII Frigate Program Progresses: USNI News reported on Sunday that HII’s frigate design for the U.S. Navy has passed its critical design review earlier this year. Portfolio Acquisition Executive Rear Adm. Casey Moton said the U.S. Navy is now working with HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division on pre-production work. The Navy awarded a $282 million advanced contract for long-lead items in April. HII’s efforts are running in parallel with the U.S. Navy’s efforts to study foreign ship designs for the next small-surface combatant. Ships being considered for the combatant include the Japanese Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ FFM Mogami-class guided-missile frigate and the South Korean Chungnam-class guided-missile frigate and the Istanbul-class guided-missile frigate. Neither the Navy nor the White House has made it clear if the Navy will pursue two different classes of small surface combatants. Additionally, Fincantieri Marinette Marine CEO George Moutafis said the company is prepared to build an export variant of the FREMM guided-missile frigate in Wisconsin. Moutafis said the supply chain the shipyard built during the company’s run building the Constellation class could be applied to Fincantieri’s FREMM EVO design with few modifications to avoid the design churn that led to the cancellation of the Constellation.

Hegseth Announces Autonomous Warfare Command: The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is creating a four-star combatant command for autonomous warfare. The move overhauls the way the Pentagon buys, tests and deploys drones and other cutting-edge technologies. To lay the groundwork for the autonomous-warfare command, Hegseth is initially tapping Owen West, a former Marine, assistant defense secretary and Goldman Sachs trader, as well as Max Strasiser, a Navy SEAL test pilot who has built robotic systems in combat. A four-star military officer, yet to be named, would eventually take over. During a Wednesday speech at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, Hegseth also revealed that SpaceXAI CEO Elon Musk, Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey and former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) will lead a new Pentagon effort to study the future of warfare, dubbed Project Meridian. The Hill reported on Wednesday that the effort will be under the purview of Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Emil Michael.

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

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