Photo caption: Sailors assigned to the USS America (LHA 6) and U.S. Marines with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit stand in formation for a photo commemorating 250 years of naval service. USS America was built at HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division. (U.S. Navy photo illustration by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Sam McNeely)
Nov. 14, 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.
Continuing Resolution Includes $1.1 Billion For Shipbuilding: The agreement signed Wednesday evening by President Donald Trump to end the 43-day federal government shutdown includes more than $1.1 billion for Navy shipbuilding, although lacks previously requested support for the service’s top-priority Columbia-class submarine program. Inside Defense reported on Thursday that the funds the government through Jan. 30 includes $510 million for the Virginia-class submarine program, $181 million for the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer program, $150 million for the Ford-class aircraft carrier program, $96 million for the John Lewis-class oiler program and $94 million for the America-class amphibious assault ship program. However, the continuing resolution lacks funding for the Columbia submarine program sought by the White House in September, when the Trump administration sent an “anomalies” request to Capitol Hill. The list included $3.9 billion to begin building one additional Columbia–class submarine in the absence of an official fiscal year 2026 appropriation. Without this financial support, deployment plans for Columbia vessels could face delays, the White House said. Meanwhile, Politico reported on Thursday that House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers believes lawmakers will deliver a final defense policy bill in the coming weeks. Negotiators, however, have not yet agreed to an overall price tag for the compromise legislation.
US-Korea Announce Details On Trade, Shipbuilding Deal: The Korea Herald reported on Friday that South Korean shipbuilders are welcoming a trade deal from the Korean and U.S. governments that may allow U.S. military vessels to be built by South Korean shipbuilders. The agreement also paves the way for Korea to build nuclear-powered submarines and expand its nuclear energy capabilities. It was still unclear whether the submarines would be built in the U.S. or South Korea. The White House, on its official website, posted a fact sheet detailing President Donald Trump’s October meeting with Korean President Lee Jae Myung, disclosing the agreement document for the first time. Noting that the agreement includes $150 billion of Korean investment in the shipbuilding sector, an initiative known as Make American Shipbuilding Great Again, the White House said the two countries committed to further collaboration and will discuss vessel maintenance, repair and overhaul, as well as workforce development, shipyard modernization and supply chain resilience. Reuters reported on Friday that South Korea’s Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick signed a 27-point non-binding document on strategic investments.
Ingalls Expands Agreement With Gulf Coast Shipyard To Build Destroyer Components: Chron.com reported on Monday that HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division has expanded its contract with Gulf Copper & Manufacturing Corporation to produce structural components for the Navy’s Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. The Texas-based shipyard will split the work between its Galveston and Port Arthur sites. WorkBoat reported on Wednesday that the expanded agreement follows a year-long pilot program between Ingalls and Gulf Copper. Breaking Defense reported in September that Davie is still in the process of investing $1 billion in Gulf Copper, which it purchased earlier this year. Davie is focusing those investments in ways that will transform the Gulf Copper facilities into a powerhouse that can compete for the U.S. Coast Guard’s pending arctic security cutter program. In the short term, Davie will continue to support Gulf Copper’s current work while it spends the next 18 months preparing the facilities to produce icebreakers.
| Social Media Highlight Of The Week
Posted Tuesday on HII’s Facebook page:
“They once served on the ships we built or used the technology we innovated. We built a career for them so they can #BuildIt for the next generation of service members who will put duty over self. With a workforce made up of more than 8,000 men and women who served in the U.S. Armed Forces, our veterans at HII continue to serve our Nation long after wearing their uniform. This #VeteransDay, we celebrate our employees across all our divisions who answered our Nation’s call to defend our freedoms. Thank you for your service – then and now.” |
General Dynamics Awarded $1.7 Billion For Two Oilers: Breaking Defense reported on Tuesday that the Navy has awarded General Dynamics a $1.7 billion contract to construct two more John Lewis-class fleet replenishment oilers, the second and third ships of an eight-vessel multi-ship contract. The John Lewis class was first awarded to NASSCO in 2016, a next-generation auxiliary vessel primarily used to transfer fuel to Navy warships at sea. The fleet oilers are 742 feet in length with a displacement of nearly 50,000 tons when fully loaded and can carry 162,000 barrels of oil and dry cargo. The first four ships in the class have been delivered to the Navy, while an additional five are under construction, according to GD. A total of 20 ships are planned for the service’s program of record.
Navy Secretary Wants To Raise Shipbuilding Competition: Inside Defense reported on Wednesday that Navy Secretary John Phelan sees integrating more competition into shipbuilding as being essential. Phelan told participants at the Northeast Indiana Defense Summit this week that raising wages is a key issue for improving the shipbuilding ecosystem. Negotiating with unions and adjusting wages to be competitive with those at Amazon, for example, is something Phelan said he is focused on. Phelan hinted at changing the current incentive structure for prime contractors and Navy personnel to break free of the shipbuilding status quo. The secretary’s comments come less than a week after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced an overhaul of the Pentagon’s acquisition system. Among the variety of initiatives included in Hegseth’s plan, program executive offices would shift to portfolio acquisition executives who would have greater authority to move funding based on performance. Portfolio scorecards will also be implemented, tracking cost, schedule and performance of programs.
HII’s Weekly News Digest is produced by HII’s Corporate Communications team and posted to Homeport every Friday.
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