HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division is expanding its distributed shipbuilding model to the US Navy’s San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock program, with modular unit construction beginning on the future USS Philadelphia (LPD 32).
The move marks the company’s first use of distributed shipbuilding for its amphibious ship portfolio and builds on the approach developed through HII’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyer program. The strategy is designed to increase shipyard capacity, accelerate production timelines, and strengthen the broader US maritime industrial base.
“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.”
Under the initiative, eight structural units for USS Philadelphia (LPD 32) have been assigned to two industry partners and have already entered early production. The units will later be integrated into the ship at Ingalls’ Pascagoula, Mississippi, shipyard.
HII said the expansion follows positive results from distributed construction efforts supporting the Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer program.
Partner-built units for the future USS Thad Cochran (DDG 135) were delivered ahead of the ship’s keel authentication milestone in October 2025, enabling early construction activities and demonstrating the potential of a more distributed production model.
The company aims to apply similar efficiencies to its amphibious shipbuilding operations by increasing the amount of work performed across its supplier network while allowing Ingalls to concentrate on complex fabrication, assembly, and systems integration activities.
HII has made distributed shipbuilding a key element of its strategy to increase production capacity amid growing demand for US Navy vessels. The company said it doubled its distributed shipbuilding workload last year and plans to increase outsourced shipbuilding hours by an additional 30% in 2026, with amphibious ship programs expected to account for a significant portion of that growth.
The expansion comes as the navy continues efforts to improve fleet readiness and address industrial base constraints affecting the delivery of new surface combatants and amphibious warfare ships.