“America’s ability to maintain peace and defend our interests depends on a strong, secure, and ready industrial base,” Chewning said. “At HII, our mission to deliver the world’s most powerful ships and all‑domain solutions is only possible because of our dedicated workforce and the continued support of Congress and the US Navy.”
Chewning, drawing on his experience as former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Policy, highlighted past reforms during the hearing to address strategic threats and bolster resilience. He also emphasized what HII is doing to accelerate throughput to meet national security demands.
“In 2025, throughput in our shipyards increased by 14 percent year-over-year,” said Chewning. “And with approximately 40 ships at Ingalls and Newport News in active construction or modernization, our focus in 2026 is clear: we must build on this momentum and continue delivering ships at a greater pace to the US Navy. We are targeting a 15 percent year-over-year throughput increase in 2026.”
Chewning said HII’s strategy to increase throughput centers on three parts: hiring, teaching, and retaining a world-class workforce; modernizing shipbuilding infrastructure with capital investments such as the use of physical AI in shipbuilding; and expanding the maritime industrial base by growing HII’s supply chain and implementing a distributed shipbuilding strategy.
While describing the strategy, Chewning thanked Congress and the Navy for their support that enabled HII to enter into new shipyard collective bargaining agreements that provided competitive wage increases to maintain a highly skilled workforce. In addition, he highlighted HII’s ongoing industrial base expansion, including a plan to strategically outsource more than two million hours of work in 2026, a 178 percent increase from 2024. The outsourced work will increase HII’s shipbuilding throughput and create jobs in communities across the country and will give small- and medium-sized businesses improved confidence to invest in their own capacity and workforce.
Additional contributions to the revitalization discussion included progress at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding Charleston Operations. Chewning pointed out the facility is a model for maritime industrial base revitalization. Working closely with the US Navy, the State of South Carolina, and the Department of Defense’s Industrial Base Policy Office, HII was able to transform the underutilized facility into a growing advanced manufacturing campus supporting the submarine industrial base and expanding skilled trade opportunities.
“This is a powerful example of what can be achieved when industry, the federal government, and state partners work together to strengthen America’s maritime dominance,” said Chewning. “We thank the US Navy, Congress, and specifically the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee for their continued support and look forward to working together to ensure America’s maritime superiority for generations to come.”
You can read the full written testimony here: https://appropriations.house.gov/schedule/hearings/field-hearing-industrial-base-and-workforce-development-skilled-trades.
