The current administration’s proposed 2024 budget does not account for the block-buy of warships, negatively impacting the workforce and supply chain. Thompson explains how the U.S. must be more efficient in spending money on defense as Chinese naval production continues to evolve. To keep up with China’s production levels and ensure international stability through a strong forward stance, the industrial base needs block buys which ...

On September 9th, USS Bougainville was transferred from land to a floating dry dock, where the Ingalls team completed the final prep work for launch. On October 6th, USS Bougainville successfully launched from Ingalls’ floating dock into the Pascagoula River.  USS Bougainville will be a crucial addition to the amphib fleet, bringing new innovations that help the Navy and Marine Corps deliver on missions around ...

The nominee to be the next commandant of the Marine Corps reiterated the service’s minimum requirement of 31 amphibious ships to meet the service’s missions. 14 SASC committee members signed a letter to Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro reminding him of a promise he made this spring to return with a plan on reconciling the statutory requirement for 31 amphibious vessels with current shipbuilding plans.

With $1 billion in modernization efforts over the past five years, HII is eager to see stability in the amphibious shipbuilding budget as it continues to support the Navy’s LPD and LHA needs.

Fairbanks Morse recently won the contract to power the US Navy’s 16th San Antonio-class vessel LPD 32 with four main propulsion diesel engines. Each engine will be manufactured at Fairbanks Morse’s manufacturing facility in Beloit, Wisconsin. Upon completion, the engines will be delivered to Huntington Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi where Fairbanks Morse will support the installation, testing, and sea trials.

Kari Wilkinson, executive vice president of HII and President of Ingalls, said an ideal pace for the shipyard to stay closer to peak efficiency would be to have San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ships (LPDs) to be built at a rate of roughly two year centers, America-class amphibious assault ships (LHAs) continuing on four year centers, Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers continuing at nine to ...

Congresswoman Elaine Luria (D-VA-02) visited Dante Valve, a Norfolk, Virginia company that manufactures and supplies mission-critical valves to the U.S. Navy. On Tuesday, October 25th, Lisa Dante Papini, the president of Dante Valve, took Representative Luria on a tour of their facilities, one of the many industrial base companies that supports the amphibious warship program. The Congresswoman was able to listen firsthand to employees explaining ...

At SNA, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday talked to reporters about the spending option that Congress chose for the 2023 shipbuilding plan saying, “The Congress has been very bullish on shipbuilding. I think they’ve been very clear in terms of what their expectations are.” Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) and Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) made appearances at the conference and advocated for the strong U.S. ...

Commander of Naval Surface Forces Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener announced that his goal is to keep 75 surface ships at either “mission capable” or “full mission capable” readiness levels. The current number of mission-capable surface ships is classified and no specific timeline was provided for the 75-ship goal. Kitchener said, “we have some work to do” and that this effort might be achievable in two ...

“With the inclusion of a 31 amphibious ship floor, support for San Antonio and America-class amphibs, support for light amphibious warship, and affirming the [Marine Corps] Commandant’s role as an amphibious force assessor, Congress is unambiguous about our intent to keep forcible entry as a core capability of the U.S. Marine Corps.” -- Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.)  

Fairbanks Morse recently won the contract to power the US Navy’s 16th San Antonio-class vessel LPD 32 with four main propulsion diesel engines. Each engine will be manufactured at Fairbanks Morse’s manufacturing facility in Beloit, Wisconsin. Upon completion, the engines will be delivered to Huntington Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi where Fairbanks Morse will support the installation, testing, and sea trials.