Photo caption: The San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Arlington (LPD 24) arrives in Boston Harbor ahead of Sail250 Boston, July 9, 2026. USS Arlington was built at HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Jonas Kott)
July 10, 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 Partners With Louisiana Shipbuilder To Accelerate ROMULUS Throughput: Defense Daily reported on Wednesday that HII is partnering with Louisiana-based Halimar Shipyard to expand production of its ROMULUS 151 unmanned surface vessel. Halimar will build complete ROMULUS 151 vessels and support serial production in collaboration with fellow Louisiana-based shipbuilder Breaux Brothers Enterprises, where five vessels are currently under construction. ExecutiveBiz reported on Tuesday that the arrangement is intended to speed up production schedules and add capacity as demand grows from the U.S. Navy and allied maritime forces. HII is spreading ROMULUS fabrication and assembly among multiple specialized partners rather than concentrating the work at a single yard. The company has also collaborated with aluminum supplier and fabricator Bayou Metals and Sydney-based Incat Crowther. Incat contributes vessel design and engineering expertise to the program. In June, Bayou Metals opened a dedicated production line in Slidell, Louisiana, to fabricate structural components for the vessels. The Halimar partnership lands as the program pursues a potential Navy pathway. The service recently selected ROMULUS for at-sea demonstrations under its medium unmanned surface vessel initiative, positioning the USV for potential follow-on production opportunities.
Navy Contract Award Extends Lionfish Production: Interesting Engineering reported on Tuesday that HII has secured an option-year production contract for the U.S. Navy’s Lionfish small unmanned undersea vehicle program. The latest contract continues production under a five-year program that could eventually deliver up to 200 Lionfish vehicles with a total potential contract value exceeding $347 million. Lionfish is based on HII’s commercially developed REMUS 300, which is designed to perform a wide range of missions, including mine countermeasures, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), anti-submarine warfare, and electronic warfare. Inside Defense reported on Monday that last year, HII delivered the first two Lionfish vehicles to the Navy. Naval Today reported on Tuesday that the REMUS family of UUVs has been deployed by naval forces worldwide. HII has delivered more than 700 systems to more than 30 countries, including 14 NATO members.
USS Nimitz (CVN 68) Arrives In Norfolk Ahead Of Deactivation: USNI News reported on Thursday that USS Nimitz (CVN 68) pulled into Naval Station Norfolk on Thursday ahead of its final homeport shift. The Navy’s oldest in-service aircraft carrier reached Virginia after participating in the International Naval Review in New York City over the Fourth of July. Nimitz will be deactivated in March of 2027 after more than 50 years in the fleet. HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division is slated to defuel the carrier’s reactor. WTKR reported on Thursday that Nimitz will function as a training carrier for the remaining months of its service life before arriving at NNS next year.
USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) Begins Maintenance At Norfolk Naval Shipyard: Stars and Stripes reported on Wednesday that USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) has moved to Norfolk Naval Shipyard for its first maintenance period since a record 326-day deployment that ended in May. The planned incremental availability maintenance will be the ship’s first at a Navy shipyard and the first the yard has completed on a Ford-class carrier. The period will be used for “extensive maintenance, repairs and modernization to meet future operational demands,” according to a U.S. Navy statement. The time will also be used to restore spaces damaged during a March 2026 fire on board the ship. The Navy said Wednesday that a team from Norfolk Naval Shipyard had started a “continuum” of advanced work on the carrier while it was still at Norfolk Naval Station that included early testing, preparations for temporary service installation, and a jet blast deflector overhaul. WAVY reported on Wednesday that the work taking place on Ford is part of a Navy plan to use smaller and more frequent maintenance availabilities to improve the period ships are available for operations.
| Social Media Highlight Of The Week
Posted Wednesday on Ingalls Shipbuilding’s LinkedIn page:
“This weekend, Ingalls Shipbuilding will celebrate the christening of George M. Neal (DDG 131). Read more about our ship’s namesake below: DDG 131 is named to honor Korean War veteran, Aviation Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class George M. Neal, who was awarded the Navy Cross for his heroic actions while attempting to rescue a fellow service member. Neal volunteered as crewman to fly in a helicopter deep into North Korean mountains to attempt the rescue of a Marine aviator who had been shot down and was trapped by the enemy. During the rescue attempt, under heavy enemy fire, Neal’s helicopter was disabled and crashed. He assisted his pilot and the rescued aviator in evading enemy forces for nine days before being captured and held as a prisoner of war. Neal was eventually released and returned to the U.S. with more than 320 fellow POWs in 1952. Neal’s daughter, Kelley Neal Gray, will christen the ship this weekend as the ship sponsor for the future USS George M. Neal (DDG 131). The christening will be streamed live on July 11th beginning at 8:45 a.m. Central time on Facebook and YouTube.” |
Coast Guard Awards Contracts Totaling $3.3 Billion For Arctic Security Cutters: USNI News reported on Thursday, July 2, that the Coast Guard has finalized a pair of awards to build six arctic security cutters. Bollinger will receive $2.2 billion for four hulls while Finnish shipbuilder Rauma was awarded $1.1 billion for two hulls. Ahead of the finalized award, Bollinger Houma cut steel for the first of six planned arctic security cutters in April, Bollinger President Ben Bordelon said. The cutters’ design was created by Seaspan in Vancouver, B.C., using a hull shape developed by Aker Arctic Technology. It is the same design as the multi-purpose icebreaker design developed for the Canadian Coast Guard. The 9,000-ton U.S. icebreakers will be Polar Class 4 capable of breaking ice about 4 feet thick, with a range of 12,000 nautical miles and a complement of 85 crewmembers, according to a product sheet from Seaspan. The maturity of the design was key for early start of fabrication. Bollinger plans to spread the work through a network of more than a dozen facilities across the Gulf Coast with final assembly of the modules in Houma. The first Bollinger hull is set to be in the water by 2028, the company has said. Defense Daily reported on July 2 that the Coast Guard plans to acquire a total of 11 arctic security cutters. In May, the service finalized a $3.5 billion contract with Davie Defense for five of the vessels.
HII’s Weekly News Digest is produced by HII’s Corporate Communications team and posted to MyHII 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.
