HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) Charleston Operations celebrated its one-year anniversary on January 22, 2026, having delivered its first unit within 40 days of the January 2025 asset acquisition closing. The Goose Creek facility occupies 45 acres along the Cooper River and offers more than 480,000 square feet of covered manufacturing space, with barge and rail access and room for future expansion. In its inaugural year, the site exceeded all 2025 production targets, contributing critical submarine and carrier modules to U.S. Navy programs. The Charleston team’s performance reflects HII’s strategy of distributed shipbuilding—now involving 23 partner shipyards and fabricators nationwide—to boost throughput and meet a Pentagon request for a multiyear shipbuilding increase valued at up to $25 billion over the next decade.

HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division successfully completed builder’s sea trials for USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) on January 21, 2026, following a comprehensive modernization that integrated the Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) weapon system. The lead Zumwalt-class destroyer arrived at Pascagoula in August 2023 and was undocked in December 2024 after replacing its twin 155 mm Advanced Gun Systems with new missile tubes. Sea trials tested propulsion, navigation and CPS launch procedures, establishing a precedent for the remaining two hulls: USS Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG 1002), currently undergoing CPS integration, and USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001), slated for a future modernization availability. Zumwalt-class vessels feature electric propulsion, stealth hull design and advanced networked sensors, positioning HII at the forefront of next-generation surface combatant construction.