Worst is over for COVID-19’s impact on shipbuilding projects
Navy’s plan for smaller, autonomous ships not expected to impact HII
The worst of the pandemic’s effects on Newport News Shipbuilding ’s workers and work schedules is over, Huntington Ingalls Industries’ chief financial officer Chris Kastner told security analysts Thursday.
“We’re hitting our milestones,” he said, speaking at Credit Suisse’s annual industrials conference.
Talk in Washington, meanwhile, suggesting the Navy needs more ships, but also smaller carriers and more autonomous vessels shouldn’t cast a shadow over HII’s prospects, Kastner said.
“More ships is better,” he said. “We already build smaller carriers — they’re just called LHDs,” he added, referring to the amphibious assault ships built at HII’s Mississippi shipyard.
Kastner said HII’s purchase of Massachusetts-based Hydroid Inc., a leading provider of advanced marine robotics, and its plan for a plant to build undersea drones in Hampton, put it in a position to win unmanned submarine and surface vessels.
The Navy, meanwhile, will still need to large nuclear-powered vessels — carriers and submarines — that the Newport News yard builds.
The Navy’s need for more Virginia-class attack submarines may mean stepping up the pace of construction from two a year to three, he said.
Kastner said HII was pleased with the terms and scope of work in its Newport News’ $2.2 billion contract to build six module sections for each of the Navy’s first two Columbia-class submarines, awarded last month.
He said work on the carrier John F. Kennedy is far along, while work on the next two Fordclass carriers is off to a good start.
The Navy’s decision to return to a single-phase delivery, instead the unusual two-step process will be delivered sooner, he added.
The pandemic hit the shipyard hard in the spring, prompting a delay in the float off of the submarine Montana until later his year, and pushing back completion of the pressure hull for the New Jersey until 2021.