Photo caption: HII-built aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) sails during routine operations while underway in the Philippine Sea, June 10, 2026. The George Washington Carrier Strike Group is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations. 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, while operating alongside allies and partners across the U.S. Navy’s largest numbered fleet. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Third Class Ana Souza Young)
June 12, 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.
House Budget Includes $56.7 Billion For Shipbuilding: Breaking Defense reported on Wednesday that the House Appropriations Committee released its $1 trillion defense spending bill for fiscal 2027 that is in line with the Pentagon’s $1.15 trillion discretionary request. Appropriators included $56.7 billion for 21 ships in the FY2027 bill. Part of that sum pays for 11 battle force ships, including one Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine, two Virginia-class fast attack submarines, one FF(X) frigate, one Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, one amphibious assault ship, one amphibious transport dock, two oilers, one AS(X) submarine tender, and one T-AGOS SURTASS ship for antisubmarine warfare. The bill also includes $828 million for the submarine industrial base. Private nuclear shipyards are also slated to get a boon with $1.3 billion for “productivity enhancements” meant to improve shipbuilder capacity and efficiency, and $471 million for wage enhancements. Politico reported on Wednesday that President Donald Trump is also asking for a reconciliation bill that would include $350 billion in new defense spending. Two top Senate appropriators, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, both suggested at a hearing this week that attempts at a third reconciliation bill of this president’s term would be fruitless. Trump has said that a reconciliation bill is needed to reach his goal of a $1.5 trillion defense budget.
Senate NDAA Removes $1 Billion For Battleship: Inside Defense reported on Thursday that Senate authorizers have cut $1 billion in advanced procurement funding for the Navy’s new battleship program, according to an executive summary of their draft defense policy bill. Approximately $850 million in research and development funding will remain in the Senate Armed Services Committee’s draft defense policy bill, which will go toward design of the ship and integrated power systems. Lawmakers have introduced amendments to funding bills that would require the Navy to submit reports on its strategy for battleship construction, while ensuring current nuclear shipyard operations are not disrupted. This week, House appropriators chose to go ahead with $1 billion in funding for the battleship program, while stipulating the Navy would be prohibited from entering a production contract without first ensuring ship weapon system maturity. Breaking Defense reported on Thursday that like House authorizers, the Senate version of the NDAA authorizes the procurement of second Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in FY2027.
HII Expands USV Production With Gulf Coast Partnerships: Defense Daily reported on Monday that Bayou Metal Supply & Manufacturing is now a strategic partner in producing HII’s ROMULUS 151 unmanned surface vessel. The partnership creates a dedicated line to supply production modules to accelerate construction of the vessel. Based in Louisiana, Bayou Metal will supply complete assembly units for shipment to Breaux Bothers Enterprises, which will integrate the modules into the finished ROMULUS USVs. Breaux, which is also based in Louisiana, has upgraded facilities for serial production of the USV. Breaux has one ROMULUS 151 in production and HII recently announced plans for the shipyard to build four more of the USVs. Workboat reported on Tuesday that HII recently announced plans to build four additional ROMULUS 151 vessels through Breaux Brothers, beyond a vessel already under construction — a move the company described as a rapid transition to initial serial production.
| Social Media Highlight Of The Week
Posted Thursday on Mission Technologies’ LinkedIn page:
“Warfighter advantage at the edge. At the speed of relevance.” That was the standard set by Mission Technologies President Andy Green at #DefenseTechLIVE2026. Over two days, teammates, customers and partners engaged directly with the engineers, scientists, and operators advancing mission capability across air, land, sea, space, and cyber. Not through concepts. Not through future-state discussions. Through technologies being developed, integrated, tested, and delivered to meet real-world mission demands. Because in this business, capability only matters if it reaches the mission when it is needed. What stood out most over the last two days was not just the technology on display. It was the people behind it. The engineers, scientists, operators, and support teams sharing expertise, answering hard questions, and demonstrating what mission-focused innovation looks like in practice. Thank you to our keynote speakers, panelists, moderators, hosts, customers, partners, and guests who joined us in Alexandria. And to our teams whose dedication, creativity, innovation, and commitment brought DefenseTech LIVE to life and made these conversations possible, thank you.” |
Navy MUSV Retrieves Downed Pilots: DefenseScoop reported on Tuesday that an autonomous Corsair maritime drone was deployed to find, and recovered, two soldiers who were stranded near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday after their Army AH-64 Apache helicopter crashed during a patrol operation. U.S. Central Command’s confirmation of the event marks the U.S. military’s first publicized use of an autonomous surface vessel to locate and retrieve downed aircrew in real-world warfare, following years of experimentation with different types of sea drones. The New York Times reported on Tuesday that the vessel is a part of the U.S. 5th Fleet’s Task Force 59, which began fielding these drones in the Central Command region in late March. The Corsair was used for the mission because of “proximity and capability factors,” Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins said. The vessel carried the Apache’s pilot and gunner to another location, where they were picked up by a helicopter to complete the rescue.
US Navy Stands Up Command To Support AUKUS Pillar I: Navy Times reported on Wednesday that the U.S. Navy has established a naval support activity in Western Australia to enhance security cooperation between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States under the trilateral AUKUS agreement. USNI News reported on Thursday that Submarine Squadron 3 was re-established Wednesday at the Royal Australian Navy’s HMAS Stirling naval base in Western Australia after previously operating out of Hawaii. The change lays the groundwork for maintenance, logistics and operational support for United States and United Kingdom submarines that operate as part of Submarine Rotational Force-West. The first U.S. personnel assigned to the force are expected to begin rotating through HMAS Stirling in late 2026. Naval Support Activity Stirling is a new U.S. Navy command established May 30 to provide support services and programs for U.S. service members, civilian personnel, contractors and their families assigned to the submarine force. SRF-West will be made up of nuclear-powered submarines — one from the U.K. and up to four from the U.S. — operating out of Perth on rotational deployments. SRF-West is part of AUKUS Pillar 1 in which Australia will acquire its own nuclear attack submarine capability.
HII’s Weekly News Digest is produced by HII’s Corporate Communications team and posted to Homeport every Friday.
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