{"id":14223,"date":"2022-03-14T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-14T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/03\/14\/as-us-navy-rethinks-its-fleet-ingalls-shipbuilding-faces-uncertain-future\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:23:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:23:25","slug":"as-us-navy-rethinks-its-fleet-ingalls-shipbuilding-faces-uncertain-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/industry\/2022\/03\/14\/as-us-navy-rethinks-its-fleet-ingalls-shipbuilding-faces-uncertain-future\/","title":{"rendered":"As US Navy rethinks its fleet, Ingalls Shipbuilding faces uncertain future"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 As recently as three years ago, the U.S. Navy\u2019s long-term shipbuilding plan laid out a stable path for Ingalls Shipbuilding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy planned to buy two or three Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers each year, splitting the work between the Pascagoula, Mississippi-based Ingalls shipyard and General Dynamics\u2019 Bath Iron Works in Maine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The service was also set to purchase San Antonio-class amphibious transport docks well into the future, initially at one every other year but eventually moving to one per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the next America-class amphibious assault ship, LHA-6, would be stretched over a longer-than-ideal construction timeline, the Navy would eventually buy one every three or four years. And though the Coast Guard\u2019s Legend-class National Security Cutter program was coming to an end, there were several options for the Navy to replace that work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But over the past three years, the service has tightened its budget and changed its requirements, making the future look far less rosy for Ingalls Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy has started moving to a distributed maritime operations mindset, prioritizing small and unmanned ships to distribute the fleet\u2019s firepower in more places \u2014 compared to the traditionally large ships that concentrate firepower among fewer hulls. And it\u2019s prioritizing readiness over fleet size, limiting the number of new ships it buys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This strategic shift raises questions about the Navy\u2019s future interest in what served as the workhorses of the surface fleet, and what that means for the hot production lines at Ingalls \u2014 the sole builder of the nation\u2019s largest conventional warships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn paper, there are a lot of issues facing Ingalls,\u201d said Byron Callan, managing director at Capital Alpha Partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ingalls Shipbuilding declined to directly address questions about how the Navy\u2019s changing priorities could affect its workload and workforce. But Sen. Roger Wicker, a Republican from Mississippi vying to become the party\u2019s leader of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the shipyard in his state \u201cindispensable\u201d to national security and the economy. He said the yard must be protected \u2014 potentially putting the Navy and lawmakers at odds over what the service should buy and how industrial base concerns should weigh on that decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amphibious ships<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Just a few years ago, the Navy\u2019s support for amphibious transport docks seemed clear. The Marine Corps loved using them, and the Navy was happy enough with the program to select it as the replacement for aging Whidbey Island-class dock landing ships, ensuring the production line would continue for years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that those Whidbey Island ships are beginning to retire, it\u2019s unclear whether their replacement will continue as planned. That\u2019s because an amphibious ship requirements study currently underway could upend the ship quantity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy currently has 31 amphibious ships \u2014 the amount the Corps needs for \u201ctimely global response and day-to-day peer competition,\u201d Lt. Gen. Karsten Heckl, deputy commandant of the Marine Corps for combat development and integration, said in January<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the requirements study, set to wrap up this spring, appears likely to set the Navy\u2019s requirement for those vessels lower than 28. For Ingalls, this means the Navy wouldn\u2019t need to replace the retiring dock landing ships on a one-for-one basis, meaning a slower acquisition rate for new amphibious transport docks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy\u2019s fiscal 2020 long-range shipbuilding plan put that procurement at one per year, but that will likely change in the next shipbuilding plan released this year. Depending on how low the amphib requirement dips, the production line could be slowed to what the yard would consider an inefficient production rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked how the ongoing amphib requirements study might affect the industrial base, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday offered few specifics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to follow the facts,\u201d he told Defense News. \u201cThe amphib force brings a certain important capability that the naval force can\u2019t dismiss. The question is, how much of it do we need and what that mix needs to look like in conjunction with expeditionary advanced base operations\u201d \u2014 a new operating concept that calls on the Navy to pursue a light amphib to supplement traditionally large amphibs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the Navy says it needs nine amphibious assault ships to haul around fixed-wing planes for the Marines. But the Navy hasn\u2019t prioritized funding for these ships in recent budgets, despite losing the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard to a fire in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The service previously had LHA-8 and LHA-9 set seven years apart, though Congress worked to accelerate that to six years. Ingalls says the ideal build rate for its workforce and suppliers is four years apart. The Navy\u2019s upcoming shipbuilding plan will reveal its target schedule for the time between LHA-9 and LHA-10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ingalls Shipbuilding launched the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock Richard M. McCool Jr. on Jan. 7, 2022. (Huntington Ingalls Industries)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Congress has tried to push the Navy to commit to buying more amphibs, twice passing the authority for a multi-ship, multiyear contract with Ingalls. But the Navy has not awarded any amphibious warship contracts since April 2020, saying it wants to defer remaining decisions <\/a>until the FY23 budget cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congress also tried to push the Navy to evolve the amphib transport dock design to better match how the sea service wants to fight under distributed maritime operations. The Senate Armed Services Committee in the FY22 National Defense Authorization Act asked the Navy to consider \u201cSan Antonio-class lethality and survivability upgrades\u201d that would give the ships enhanced radars for better offensive and defensive engagements, integrate at least 16 missile launchers and potentially add the Aegis Combat System.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy submitted its report as required, but has not discussed it publicly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Destroyers<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers were the most-used surface combatant in the fleet in recent years, but they\u2019ve fallen victim to a crowded shipbuilding budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In FY22, the Navy asked for a single destroyer, despite shipbuilding plans calling for the Navy to buy two or three each year \u2014 and despite the fact that buying just one breaks the terms of a multiyear procurement contract, triggering a financial penalty<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lower procurement rate creates an issue because two yards build the destroyers: Ingalls and Bath Iron Works. Buying just one per year means one of the yards has an unexpected gap in its workload.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also \u201cimpacts affordability by disrupting efficient production lines, not only at the shipyard but throughout the supply chain as well,\u201d Ingalls Shipbuilding spokesman Danny Hernandez told Defense News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several sources, who were not authorized to speak about negotiations until the budget request is released, told Defense News the Navy has again struggled to find room for a second destroyer in next year\u2019s budget. The service considered a range of unappealing trade-offs, including decommissioning existing surface combatants, to pay for a second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bryan Clark, director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at the Hudson Institute, told Defense News that \u201cshipbuilding is likely to be constrained \u2014 as it was in the FY22 budget submission.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Navy and [the Office of the Secretary of Defense] may be hoping Congress will again add ships into the budget,\u201d Clark said. But absent congressional intervention, \u201cIngalls and Bath Iron Works will face an uneven demand for DDGs, and it will be hard to plan workforce and infrastructure investments when they have to depend on congressional plus-ups to sustain a stable demand signal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy is expected to sign one more five-year destroyer procurement contract with Ingalls and Bath Iron Works. This contract would cover Flight III destroyers from FY23 to FY27 and would be followed by a transition to building the next-generation destroyer, dubbed DDG(X), in FY28 if the Navy\u2019s plans come to fruition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The future guided-missile destroyer Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125) is launched on June 4, 2021, at Huntington Ingalls Industries, Ingalls Shipbuilding division in Pascagoula, Miss. Jack H. Lucas is the first Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer to be built in the Flight III configuration. (Huntington Ingalls Industries photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The service said it wants to keep the industrial base stable ahead of the transition from Burkes to the DDG(X). Surface warfare director Rear Adm. Paul Schlise even committed in February to buying two destroyers per year. But the one-ship request in FY22 raises doubts about the Navy\u2019s ability to follow through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Mike Gallagher, a Republican from Wisconsin who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, said in January<\/a>: \u201cWe\u2019re caught in a triangle of distrust between the Navy, industry and Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Department [of the Navy] should commit to funding two large surface combatants a year for, let\u2019s say, 10 years, during which the transition from Flight III Burkes to DDG(X) occurs,\u201d he added. \u201cCongress, in turn, would commit to fully funding the DDG(X) program. From there, the Navy should provide a plan to both Congress and industry to move forward from two Flight IIIs per year to two DDG(X)s per year over a three- to five-year transition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some lawmakers want more, with the Mississippi and Maine delegations writing to Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro<\/a> in February to ask for a 15-ship block buy and funding for three ships a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, shown here during a visit to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, on Friday, has tested positive for COVID-19. (Lance Cpl. Ryan Ramsammy\/Marine Corps)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ingalls also contends industry would be in a stronger position to transition to DDG(X) if the Navy buys three destroyers annually in the coming years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNine-month centers are an efficient cadence, which requires more than two ships a year,\u201d Hernandez said, referring to the period of time between ships. \u201cThis experienced industrial base will add stability and contribute significantly as the Navy transitions to \u2026 DDG(X).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buying two or even three a year will continue to be challenged by the large shipbuilding bill the Navy faces for its undersea fleet. The service included just one destroyer in its FY22 request because of hefty bills for submarine construction, and those tabs will only grow in the coming years as the Navy shifts to buying Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines at a faster pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National security cutters<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
From left: the Coast Guard cutters Glen Harris, Wrangell, Emlen Tunnell and Maui transit in formation in the Gulf of Oman, Feb. 26, 2022. (Cpl. Deandre Dawkins\/Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Coast Guard\u2019s Legend-class National Security Cutter program is also coming to an end. Its last two ships are in production, Hernandez said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To refill that production line, Ingalls wants another Coast Guard program: the offshore patrol cutter. Eastern Shipbuilding won the contract in 2016, but after the yard was devastated by Hurricane Michael in 2018, the Coast Guard decided to recompete the bulk of the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eastern is working hard to keep the program<\/a>, while Austal USA wants it to fill the company\u2019s soon-to-be-established steel shipbuilding production line<\/a>. And Ingalls hopes the offshore patrol cutter can fill the forthcoming gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe National Security Cutter is one of the most successful programs we have had at Ingalls, but it is coming to an end in the next couple of years,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cThe Coast Guard plans to award the OPC Stage II contract in 2022, and given our experience successfully building the NSC for the last two decades, we are hopeful that they will view our offer as the lowest risk and most affordable offering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ingalls could also use this production line to build the Constellation-class frigate when the Navy selects a second yard to build the Fincantieri design \u2014 though Austal too is pursuing this deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clark said Ingalls will face significant competition as it seeks new work to keep its business and suppliers busy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe larger challenge for Ingalls is \u2026 it will have to compete with smaller shipyards for new ships like the Coast Guard offshore patrol cutter and Navy light amphibious warship,\u201d he said. \u201cYards like Eastern, Bollinger [Shipyards] and VT Halter [Marine] may be able to offer a more attractive process to the government for these new ships, although Ingalls would have the capacity to build them at scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIngalls may have to take on more maintenance work to make up the difference, which creates more challenges for planning and workforce management.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funding the fleet<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Still, Congress may take steps to preserve Ingalls\u2019 workload.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Elaine Luria, a Democrat from Virginia who serves as the House Armed Services Committee\u2019s vice chair, said the Navy\u2019s fleet must grow to compete with China and keep the shipbuilding-industrial base strong. As a result, the service should make creative decisions \u2014 and Congress should fund them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis needs to be the No. 1 priority of the country. It needs to be the president\u2019s priority,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wicker, who represents Ingalls\u2019 home state, told Defense News that the company and its workforce are \u201cindispensable in their capacity to build the large vessels that our combatant commanders need to defend our coastlines and project American power abroad.\u201d He\u2019s concerned the Pentagon and the White House aren\u2019t focused enough on protecting the shipbuilder and the rest of the defense-industrial base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeyond Ingalls, it is important that Congress not allow shortsighted budget decisions at the Pentagon to erode our already fragile defense-industrial base further,\u201d he said. \u201cI am working with other members of Congress to advance much-needed funding flexibility and multiyear block buys of large ships to help reduce costs and increase stability for the industrial base.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Callan of Capital Alpha Partners said \u201cbetween appropriations and authorization committees, shipbuilding has had some pretty significant support over the years.\u201d He noted that backing could grow if Wicker becomes the next chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee after Sen. Jim Inhofe retires<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, Callan said, \u201cwhen [Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell comes out and says we ought to be funding defense at that 5% real growth rate<\/a> \u2014 doing that, I think, would solve a lot of these issues that the Navy, and frankly the Army and the Air Force, are having to grapple or deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere could be a budgetary solution that might take some of these issues off the front burner and put them back in the cupboard,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
In this Oct. 6, 2021, photo, the light in the cupola of the Capitol Dome is illuminated, indicating that work continues in Congress, in Washington. The dangerous standoff in Congress over raising the debt limit as well as its ultimate resolution both were engineered by Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader determined to stop President Joe Biden\u2019s agenda even if it pushes the country toward grave economic uncertainty. McConnell is no longer the majority leader of the Senate, but he is exerting the power of the minority in new and uncharted ways. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For his part, Gilday is prioritizing readiness over the procurement of new ships, arguing it would be irresponsible to buy vessels the Navy could not afford to maintain or crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The top naval officer\u2019s focus on rebuilding readiness is driven by its erosion throughout the 2010s: He wants aircraft and ship maintenance completed on time, the right personnel in the right billets, and units with the time and money to train for a more complex future fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBack in sequestration, we flipped [the current prioritization], and we kept the production lines of ships going. And at the time we thought that was a really important thing to do,\u201d Gilday told reporters Feb. 18 at the WEST conference. But the result, he said, was depleted magazines and at-sea personnel gaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gilday said he hopes the new National Defense Strategy will highlight the Navy\u2019s role in a future joint-service fight, directing future budgets to give the Navy more money to grow the fleet. That would address part of Ingalls\u2019 challenge, though the Navy is still moving in a direction that prioritizes small combatants and unmanned vessels, putting the nation\u2019s premiere builder of large warships at a disadvantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Ingalls seeks to prepare for the future, the yard has completed a five-year, $850 million capital expenditure investment program known as Shipyard of the Future, which includes 3D modeling tools, additional covered workspaces that protect employees from the elements, new laser-cutting and robotics technologies, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese investments will ensure our customers receive the best capabilities and the most affordable prices,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cNow we need to ensure those production lines remain viable so we can continue delivering ships that are critically important to U.S. national security.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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