Photo caption: Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) transits the Philippine Sea, Sept. 15, 2026. Abraham Lincoln is underway conducting routine operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Samuel Evarts)
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Sept. 25, 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.
HII Expands Unmanned Production Facility: Executive Biz reported on Wednesday that HII has added 10,000 square feet to its unmanned systems manufacturing campus in Pocasset, Massachusetts, increasing the site’s capacity to build and integrate autonomous maritime platforms amid rising demand for such systems worldwide. The addition expands HII’s existing 40,000-square-foot plant, where the company builds and integrates its REMUS unmanned underwater vehicles, or UUVs, and ROMULUS unmanned surface vessels, or USVs. The new space adds production capacity for the REMUS 620 UUV and the Navy’s Lionfish small unmanned undersea vehicle. Lionfish is based on the REMUS 300 platform. Ocean News and Technology reported on Wednesday that the expansion also advances the integration of HII’s Odyssey Autonomous Control Solutions (ACS) software, which supports advanced maritime autonomous and unmanned operations. These capabilities include simulation and modeling designed to support increasingly complex missions across multiple domains and vehicle types as well as autonomy hardware to be installed on ROMULUS USVs.
HII, Breaux Brother Partnership Advancing Navy’s Unmanned Surface Vessel Push: USNI News reported on Wednesday that shipyards along coastal Louisiana are at the forefront of the Navy’s Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel (MUSV) competition. Working with HII, Breaux Brothers is among seven yards building MUSVs. Congress passed a reconciliation bill last year that allotted $5 billion for the Navy to buy unmanned vessels. The service intends to order 36 MUSVs before the end of the current fiscal year, then taper off before increasing purchases again in the outyears. Louisiana has a history of building similar sized vessels. Breaux Brothers has built high-speed vessels for the petroleum industry since the 1940s. The Defense Department has converted former Gulf Coast crew boats into autonomous test beds and used the test results to shape a line of fast, durable ships capable of traveling 2,500 nautical miles, hauling modular payloads camouflaged in two 40-foot shipping containers. Seven companies, including HII, were granted Navy permission to move to the MUSV prototyping and testing phase expected to wrap by the end of this month.
Navy Signals Carrier Electronic Catapult Support: Defense News reported on Wednesday that the U.S. Navy appears to be sticking with electromagnetic launch systems for its Ford-class aircraft carriers. The service recently awarded contracts for the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, or EMALS, which uses electrically generated magnetic fields to launch aircraft from the flight deck. Kato Engineering announced a $49.3 million contract this week to support the energy storage subsystem of EMALS. The Navy also published a sources sought notice last week, seeking vendors to supply components such as EMALS recirculation pumps. The Navy maintains that electromagnetic catapults provide smoother acceleration, can be adjusted to launch various types of aircraft such as drones, can be reset for faster launches and require less maintenance and personnel. In an August memo, President Donald Trump ordered the Navy to replace EMALS with an older steam-based system on the USS Doris Miller (CVN 81), as well as following carriers in the class. Finding a manufacturer for steam catapults and then redesigning Ford-class carriers to accept them, would likely require costly redesigns, critics of the order said.
| Social Media Highlight Of The Week
Posted Sept. 24 to Ingalls Shipbuilding’s LinkedIn page:
“Across three meaningful community events, our shipbuilders proudly showcased the spirit of service, togetherness, and Ingalls pride. From supporting awareness at the Out of the Darkness Suicide Prevention Walk with Ingalls’ Veterans Employee Resource Team (VERT), to inspiring young minds during Science Saturday at the Walter Anderson Museum of Art, to celebrating culture at Festival Hispano de Pascagoula — our teams showed what community commitment looks like in action.” |
Guided-Missile Destroyers Amass To Support Middle East Conflict: The Navy Times reported on Tuesday that at least 15 of the U.S. Navy’s guided-missile destroyers were concentrated in the Middle East as U.S. forces conduct operations against Iran. The conflict highlights the demand facing the class which is built by HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division and General Dynamics Bath Iron Works. USNI News reported on Wednesday that As of Monday, there were more than a dozen guided-missile destroyers supporting carriers USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) and USS George Washington (CVN 73) and the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. To support the buildup in the Middle East, the deployments of guided-missile destroyers USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116) and USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) were extended. Their major maintenance availabilities were pushed from 2026 to 2027. The service is also finding new uses for the ships.
HII’s Weekly News Digest is produced by HII’s Corporate Communications team and posted to MyHII every Friday.
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