US Navy warships to be built by partner shipyards under HII’s new strategy

U.S. shipbuilder HII has decided to change how it builds some Navy warships by moving part of the construction work to outside shipbuilding partners. The company said on July 27 that it will now use this distributed production model for the U.S. Navy’s San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock program, beginning with the future USS Philadelphia (LPD 32). The move marks the first time Ingalls has applied the model to its amphibious ship portfolio, extending an approach previously used on the company’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyer program. The strategy is intended to increase shipyard capacity, support faster production, and strengthen the wider U.S. maritime industrial base as demand for Navy vessels continues to grow. Distributed construction moves into amphibious shipbuilding Under the initiative, eight structural units for USS Philadelphia have been assigned to two industry partners and have already entered early production. The modules will later be integrated into the ship at Ingalls’ Pascagoula, Mississippi, shipyard. “Expanding distributed shipbuilding into the LPD program is a critical step in scaling capacity to meet rising fleet demand,” Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Blanchette said. “By shifting selected structural units to trusted partners, just as we’ve successfully done in the Flight III destroyer program, we’re enabling more parallel construction and freeing our Ingalls team to focus on the complex assembly and integration work that only a major shipyard can perform,” he continued. The company said the model allows more construction activity to take place simultaneously while keeping complex fabrication, assembly, and systems integration work centered at Ingalls. Destroyer program provides blueprint HII said the amphibious shipbuilding expansion follows positive results from distributed construction supporting its Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer program. Partner-built units for the future USS Thad Cochran (DDG 135) arrived ahead of the ship’s keel authentication milestone in October 2025. Their early delivery supported construction activities before that milestone and demonstrated how distributed production could improve sequencing and throughput. Ingalls now plans to apply similar efficiencies across its amphibious shipbuilding operations. By increasing the share of work performed across its supplier network, the company aims to create additional production capacity while preserving its Pascagoula yard for the most complex stages of ship construction. The approach also gives HII a way to expand output without relying solely on additional work inside its main shipyard. Outsourced shipbuilding hours set to rise Distributed shipbuilding has become a central part of HII’s effort to meet growing U.S. Navy demand. The company said it doubled its distributed shipbuilding workload last year and plans to increase outsourced shipbuilding hours by another 30% in 2026. Amphibious ship programs are expected to represent a significant share of that increase. The expansion comes as the Navy works to improve fleet readiness while addressing industrial base constraints affecting deliveries of new surface combatants and amphibious warfare ships. For HII, extending distributed construction from destroyers to the San Antonio-class program broadens the role of outside shipbuilding partners in naval production. With Philadelphia serving as the first amphibious test case, the program will show whether efficiencies achieved on Flight III destroyers can be replicated across another major U.S. Navy shipbuilding line.Its results could shape future distributed amphibious construction efforts.Recommended ArticlesGet the latest in engineering, tech, space & science - delivered daily to your inbox.Atharva is a full-time content writer with a post-graduate degree in media & amp; entertainment and a graduate degree in electronics & telecommunications. He has written in the sports and technology domains respectively. In his leisure time, Atharva loves learning about digital marketing and watching soccer matches. His main goal behind joining Interesting Engineering is to learn more about how the recent technological advancements are helping human beings on both societal and individual levels in their daily lives.