PASCAGOULA, Miss., March 02, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HII’s (NYSE: HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division hosted U.S. Reps. Trent Kelly, R-Miss.; Joe Courtney, D-Conn.; and Jerry Carl, R-Ala. who were accompanied by U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Karsten Heckl and Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney today for a meeting with Ingalls Shipbuilding leadership and a shipyard tour visit.

“It is always a privilege to host members of the House and our Marine Corps partners,” Ingalls Shipbuilding President Kari Wilkinson said. “We make the best decisions and investments as collaborative partners aligned in our understanding of the opportunities to forward our common mission of providing for our service men and women.”

For 85 years, Ingalls has designed, built and maintained amphibious ships, destroyers, and cutters for the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard. During this official visit, the Ingalls Shipbuilding team lead their guests on a shipyard tour including visits aboard amphibious transport dock ship Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29) and large deck amphibious assault ship Bougainville (LHA 8).

Photos accompanying this release are available at: https://hii.com/news/hii-hosts-congressional-delegation-and-usmc-officers-at-ingalls-shipbuilding/

"It's always great to be back at Ingalls Shipbuilding, and I remain impressed with the talent, dedication and teamwork of Ingalls shipbuilders as they construct the next generation of ships for our Navy and Marine Corps,” Kelly said. “Congress has been clear about the requirement for amphibious warships, including the establishment of a minimum 31 amphibious warships in our Navy fleet in last year’s NDAA. I was especially pleased to visit and see construction progress on both LPD 29 and LHA 8 today, and I look forward to working with my colleagues on HASC to provide for the future of amphibious warships in the FY24 National Defense Authorization Act.”

“The work being done by Mississippi’s shipbuilders and engineers at the Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula is absolutely critical to the mission of our U.S. Navy, and the national security of America and its allies,” Courtney said. “What I saw at the shipyard should inspire confidence in every American focused on the success of our Marine Corps and Navy — this workforce is sharp, highly skilled and has taken full advantage of the investments Congress made into LPD 32 and LHA9 procurement. Our 2023 NDAA authorized full funding for both programs while also providing advance procurement for the next ships in both classes, all in support of the statutory floor for 31 amphibious ships authorized by the Seapower subcommittee. The volume, pace and capability of what is being built at HII’s Pascagoula shipyard is a huge achievement, and I’m grateful to Chairman Kelly for organizing this opportunity for us to see their impressive workforce in action.”

“It’s an honor to visit and engage industry on how best I can support our Mississippi and Alabama shipbuilders and Marine Corps,” Carl said. “The volume, pace and capability of what is being built at this shipyard is impressive. The workforce should be very proud of building these amphibious ships that are critical to the Navy and Marine Corps who protect our security interests around the globe.”

Ingalls Shipbuilding is the sole builder of the entire San Antonio class of ships and has delivered 12 San Antonio-class ships to the Navy and has three more under construction, including Richard M. McCool, Harrisburg (LPD 30) the first Flight II LPD, and Pittsburgh (LPD 31). The shipyard is also building large-deck amphibious ships for the Navy and Marine Corps, delivering a total of 15 ships, and the production remains online and efficient with the ongoing construction of Bougainville and Fallujah (LHA 9), which started fabrication in December 2022.

“It is great to be able to see the level of construction taking place on amphibious ships currently being built at Ingalls,” Mahoney said. “These amphibious ships are crucial to our national security.”

Heckl echoed the sentiments of Mahoney on the critical need for amphibious ships. “The reality is that the diverse set of missions our amphibs are most likely to execute are very real, occur fairly regularly, and could occur anywhere on the globe,” Heckl said. “The naval force must advocate for a larger Department of the Navy budget. This will enable congressionally authorized multi-ship buys, provide cost savings through industrial base stability, and improve current maintenance and readiness levels."

HII recently invested nearly $1 billion in infrastructure, facility and toolsets at Ingalls Shipbuilding enabling shipbuilders to improve product flow and process and efficiency, and enhancing product quality. Ingalls is supported by over 1,200 suppliers across 49 states and is the largest manufacturing employer in Mississippi and a major contributor to the economic growth of Alabama.

About HII

HII is a global, all-domain defense provider. HII’s mission is to deliver the world’s most powerful ships and all-domain solutions in service of the nation, creating the advantage for our customers to protect peace and freedom around the world.

As the nation’s largest military shipbuilder, and with a more than 135-year history of advancing U.S. national security, HII delivers critical capabilities extending from ships to unmanned systems, cyber, ISR, AI/ML and synthetic training. Headquartered in Virginia, HII’s workforce is 43,000 strong. For more information, visit:

• HII on the web: hii.com
• HII on Facebook: facebook.com/TeamHII
• HII on Twitter: twitter.com/WeAreHII
• HII on Instagram: instagram.com/WeAreHII

Contact:

Kimberly Aguillard
Kimberly.K.Aguillard@hii-co.com
(228) 935-6821

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b5c90abd-2089-4468-82ac-95ccf4be85d2