Overview
- HII said Hegseth toured submarine module lines for Columbia- and Virginia-class boats and visited the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy, meeting shipbuilders and sailors.
- He told workers their speed and quality directly affect fleet readiness, aligning the tour with the administration’s peace-through-strength agenda.
- HII reported more than 40 ships are in active construction or modernization across Ingalls and Newport News facilities.
- To raise throughput, HII launched a distributed shipbuilding initiative with 23 partner yards, shifted to a 56-hour standard work week in 2025, and is evaluating an additional U.S. shipyard with international partners.
- Local leaders backed expanding production, with Mayor Phillip Jones saying the city needs to build more ships, and officials signaled more tour stops in the coming weeks.