WASHINGTON – A newly formed division of US shipbuilder HII has several promising projects in development and now also a contract with the Pentagon to marry them in case of urgent need.
When in April HII – formerly called Huntington Ingalls Industries – was rebranded as a global defense contractor rather than the largest US shipbuilder, leaders spoke of the need to gain a foothold among other armed services besides the Navy. They also hoped to leverage the new Mission Technologies division to enhance the company’s Ingalls Shipbuilding and Newport News Shipbuilding programs.
CEO Chris Kastner spent time with US Pacific Fleet leadership in Hawaii last week as part of HII’s new direction and to lead investment under a new technology development and demonstration contract with the Department of Defense. .
He told Defense News that a common theme among the military leadership is “the desire to understand what we have available at the moment [command, control, computers, communications, cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance]and the ability to integrate different nodes within the common operational environment and provide that visibility very quickly to the fighter. “
Thanks to acquisitions in recent years, HII now has in-house experience in artificial intelligence, machine learning, unmanned systems, autonomous technology, sensors and battle management tools. While relevant to military services and combat commanders, these technologies are generally still in the research and development phase or are in the prototyping phase.
But there is still a demand. Kastner said his trip to Hawaii “reinforced the fact that the investments we made make a lot of sense because the tools the client requested are exactly the tools we invested in. [Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance], [artificial intelligence and machine learning]unmanned technology: integrating all of those into a common operating framework. “
The challenge is that the military wants these technologies immediately, which means that services can find small amounts of money in the current year’s budget to support the technology demonstration, but it is still difficult to find a path to greater profits through traditional contracts. for a record schedule.
Some recent efforts at HII “are probably not materially financially important at this time for the company, but they are strategically important to our client,” explained Kastner.
So where does the company and its shareholders end up?
Kastner said earlier this month, the government awarded HII a Decisive Mission Actions and Technology Services task order that could serve as a model for translating emerging technology into substantive contracts.
The contract, which could be worth up to $ 826 million over five years, is intentionally large, allowing the Mission Technologies division to mature and demonstrate technologies to support “all components of the DOD service, component research labs, components of the DOD Fourth Estate, National Intelligence Agencies and Combat Commands “.
“Within that contract, we are able to demonstrate the technology to the customer and really to the [combatant commands] and say, “Look, we’re going to bring the technology to function for a problem you have, we’ll solve it for you, and that could eventually evolve into, potentially, recording programs,” Kastner said. “It allows you to develop the technology the customer wants you to develop in a cost-effective environment.”
This perhaps marries the dual challenges of solving war problems and making money for the company.
Kastner noted that Alion Science and Technology, which HII acquired in August 2021, had also signed a similar technology development and demonstration contract with the government in 2019 and is looking forward to seeing what HII Mission Technologies can do with it.
Of particular interest is the ability to mature such a range of technologies. While C5ISR is the main focus, other emerging technologies can contribute to that mission area. For example, unmanned systems can be equipped with mission packages that contribute to C5ISR; and under this contractual structure, HII could mature both the drone and the mission package, which could help the company in the long run during unmanned vehicle competitions.
Multiservice provider
On August 11, the Air Force awarded HII a Mobility Air Force Distributed Mission Operations task order to provide live, virtual and constructive training capabilities. HII will operate and maintain the Distributed Training Center and network of Distributed Training Centers, according to a corporate press release.
Kastner said the company was already a leading LVC training developer for the Navy and that the systems will apply well to this Air Force project. He also hopes to expand the company’s footprint into the Air Force training community and the military, among other customers.
As for shipbuilding, he anticipates Mission Technologies will help traditional programs improve. For example, he said, the Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers will provide significant work for the Newport News Shipbuilding yard in Virginia for the next few decades: Hulls 79, 80 and 81 are now under contract, and Congress is already considering a two – ship to buy for 82 and 83.
The Ford class is the first to have digital design and digital work instructions for manufacturers. Kastner said the Mission Technologies division can help leverage it into a maintenance tool.
“We now have a fully digital ship in the Ford class, and if we can … create some predictive maintenance around it through AI / ML tools, it will absolutely increase the amount of time the ship is deployed because we can predict when. things fail and get them fixed before they do, “he said, adding that the company is internally funding this research.
He added that HII spoke with Navy and Department of Defense officials about how this predictive maintenance tool could reduce maintenance costs and increase operating days in each carrier’s 50-year life.
Another in-house research and development project looked at how to employ unmanned ships from the pit of Ingalls-built amphibious ships, something the company demonstrated in June.
Megan Eckstein is Defense News naval warfare reporter. She has been involved in military news since 2009, with a focus on the operations, acquisition programs and budgets of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. She has reported from four geographic fleets and is happiest when she files stories from a ship. Megan is a student of the University of Maryland.