Item 1. BUSINESS
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Item 1. BUSINESS
History and Organization
Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. ("HII", the "Company", "we", "us", or "our") is a global, all-domain defense partner, building and delivering the world's most powerful, survivable naval ships and technologies that safeguard America’s seas, sky, land, space, and cyber. For more than a century, our Ingalls Shipbuilding segment ("Ingalls") in Mississippi and Newport News Shipbuilding segment ("Newport News") in Virginia have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder, making us America's largest shipbuilder. Our Mission Technologies segment develops integrated technology solutions and products that enable today's connected, all domain force. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, we employ over 44,000 people domestically and internationally.
We conduct most of our business with the U.S. Government, primarily the Department of Defense ("DoD"). As prime contractor, principal subcontractor, team member, or partner, we participate in many high-priority U.S. defense programs. Ingalls includes our non-nuclear ship design, construction, repair, and maintenance businesses. Newport News includes all of our nuclear ship design, construction, overhaul, refueling, and repair and maintenance businesses. Our Mission Technologies segment provides a wide range of services and products, including command, control, computers, communications, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems and operations; the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning to battlefield decisions; defense and offensive cyberspace strategies and electronic warfare; uncrewed autonomous systems; live, virtual, and constructive training solutions; fleet sustainment; and critical nuclear operations.
Ingalls
Through our Ingalls segment, we design and construct non-nuclear ships for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, including amphibious assault ships, expeditionary warfare ships, surface combatants, and national security cutters ("NSC"). We are the sole builder of amphibious assault ships and one of two builders of surface combatants for the U.S. Navy. We are the sole builder of large multi-mission NSCs for the U.S. Coast Guard. Our Ingalls segment is located in Pascagoula, Mississippi on 800 acres along the Pascagoula River.
Amphibious Assault Ships
We construct amphibious assault ships and expeditionary warfare ships for the U.S. Navy, which include U.S. Navy large deck amphibious assault ships ("LHA") and amphibious transport dock ships ("LPD"), respectively. The LHA is a key component of the Department of the Navy's requirement for Expeditionary Strike Groups/Amphibious Readiness Groups, and design, construction, and modernization of LHAs are core to our Ingalls operations. In 2007, we were awarded the construction contract for USS America (LHA 6), the first in a class of enhanced amphibious assault ships designed from the keel up to be an aviation optimized Marine assault platform. We are currently constructing Bougainville (LHA 8) and Fallujah (LHA 9). In 2023, we were awarded a long-lead-time material contract for Helmand Province (LHA 10), and in 2024, we were awarded a contract modification for the detail design and construction of Helmand Province (LHA 10).
The LPD program is a long-running production program of expeditionary warfare ships. We delivered USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28) in 2022 and Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29) in 2024. We are currently constructing Harrisburg (LPD 30), and Pittsburgh (LPD 31). In 2023, we were awarded a contract to construct Philadelphia (LPD 32). In 2024, we were awarded a multi-ship procurement contract for the construction of Travis Manion (LPD 33), LPD 34 (unnamed), and LPD 35 (unnamed).
Surface Combatants
We are a design agent for, and one of only two companies that constructs, Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyers ("DDG"), a class of surface combatant. We have delivered 35 Arleigh Burke class (DDG 51) destroyers to the U.S. Navy, including USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125) in 2023, USS Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123) in 2022, and USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121) in 2021. In 2018, we were awarded a multi-year contract for construction of six Arleigh Burke class (DDG 51) destroyers and, in 2020,a contract to construct an additional
Arleigh Burke class (DDG 51) destroyer. In 2023, we were awarded a multi-year contract for construction of six more Arleigh Burke class (DDG 51) destroyers, as well as the first option ship, for a total of seven ships. We are currently constructing Ted Stevens (DDG 128), Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129), George M. Neal (DDG 131), Sam Nunn (DDG 133), and Thad Cochran (DDG 135).
National Security Cutters
The U.S. Coast Guard's recapitalization program is replacing aging and operationally expansive ships and aircraft used to conduct missions in excess of 50 miles from the shoreline. The flagship of this program is the Legend class NSC, a multi-mission platform we designed and continue to build. In 2018, we were awarded long-lead-time material and construction contracts for Calhoun (NSC 10), which was delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard in 2023.
Newport News
The core business of our Newport News segment is designing and constructing nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines, and the refueling and overhaul and the inactivation of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. Our Newport News shipyard is located on approximately 550 acres near the mouth of the James River, which adjoins the Chesapeake Bay.
Design, Construction, Refueling and Complex Overhaul, and Inactivation of Aircraft Carriers
Engineering, design, and construction of U.S. Navy nuclear aircraft carriers ("CVN") are core to Newport News operations. Aircraft carriers are the largest ships in the U.S. Navy's fleet, with a displacement of over 90,000 tons. Newport News has designed and built more than 31 aircraft carriers for the U.S. Navy since 1933, including all ten Nimitz class (CVN 68) aircraft carriers currently in active service, as well as the first ship of the next generation Gerald R. Ford class (CVN 78) aircraft carriers.
We delivered USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), the first aircraft carrier of the Gerald R. Ford class to the U.S. Navy in 2017. Beginning in 2009, we received contract awards totaling $8.8 billion for construction preparation, detail design, and construction of the second Gerald R. Ford class (CVN 78) aircraft carrier, John F. Kennedy (CVN 79). In addition, we have received contract awards valued at $15.3 billion for detail design and construction of the Gerald R. Ford class (CVN 78) aircraft carriers, Enterprise (CVN 80) and Doris Miller (CVN 81).
We continue to be the exclusive prime contractor for nuclear aircraft carrier refueling and complex overhaul ("RCOH"). Each RCOH takes nearly four years to complete, with the work accounting for approximately 35% of all maintenance and modernization during an aircraft carrier's 50 year service life. RCOH services include propulsion work (refueling of reactors; propulsion plant modernization; and propulsion plant repairs), restoration of service life (dry docking, tank, and void maintenance; hull, shafting, propellers, and rudders; launch and recovery system; piping repairs; and component refurbishment), and modernization (electrical systems; aviation support systems; warfare; interoperability; and environmental compliance). We provide ongoing maintenance services for the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier fleet through both RCOH and fleet support services worldwide.
USS George Washington (CVN 73) was redelivered to the U.S. Navy in 2023 after completion of its RCOH, and we are currently performing the RCOH of USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74). We believe our current position as the exclusive designer and builder of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, our RCOH performance on the first seven Nimitz class (CVN 68) carriers, our highly trained workforce, the capital-intensive nature of RCOH work, and high barriers to entry due to required nuclear expertise position us well for RCOH contract awards on the remaining Nimitz class (CVN 68) carriers, as well as future RCOH work on Gerald R. Ford class (CVN 78) aircraft carriers.
Aircraft carriers have a lifespan of approximately 50 years, and we believe the ten Nimitz class (CVN 68) carriers we delivered that are currently in active service, as well as Gerald R. Ford class (CVN 78) aircraft carriers, present significant opportunities for inactivation contracts as they reach the end of their lifespans. We believe we are well positioned to be the U.S. Navy's shipyard of choice for these contract awards.
Design and Construction of Nuclear-Powered Submarines
We are one of only two companies in the United States currently capable of designing and building nuclear-powered submarines for the U.S. Navy. Newport News has delivered 64 submarines to the U.S. Navy since 1960, comprised
of 50 fast attack and 14 ballistic missile submarines. Our nuclear submarine program, located at our Newport News shipyard, includes construction, engineering, design, research, and integrated planning.
Virginia Class (SSN 774) Submarines
We have a teaming agreement with Electric Boat Corporation ("Electric Boat"), a division of General Dynamics Corporation ("General Dynamics"), to build Virginia class (SSN 774) fast attack nuclear submarines. Under the teaming arrangement, we build the stern, habitability and machinery spaces, torpedo room, sail, and bow, while Electric Boat builds the engine room, control room, and pressure hull structure. Work on the reactor plant and the final assembly, test, outfit, and delivery of the submarines to the U.S. Navy alternates between Electric Boat and us.
The four submarines of the first block, six submarines of the second block, and eight submarines of the third block of Virginia class (SSN 774) submarines have been delivered. In 2014, the team was awarded a construction contract for the fourth block of ten Virginia class (SSN 774) submarines, which contemplated production of two submarines per year. The first submarine of the Block IV contract was delivered in 2020, and five more submarines have been delivered through 2024. The remaining four boats of the Block IV contract are in the final assembly and test phases of construction.
In 2019, the team was awarded a construction contract for the fifth block of nine Virginia class (SSN 774) submarines, and, in 2021, an option for a 10th submarine was exercised, continuing the two submarines per year production rate. Ten of the Block V boats are in manufacturing and outfitting stages of construction.
In 2023, the team was awarded a contract modification for advance procurement for long lead-time material in support of two additional Block V boats, bringing the total Block V boats to 12. In 2023 and 2024, the team received contract awards for advance procurement of long-lead-time material in support of all ten Block VI boats.
Columbia Class (SSBN 826) Submarines
Newport News is participating in the design and construction of the Columbia class (SSBN 826) nuclear ballistic missile submarines ("SSBN") as a replacement for the current aging Ohio class submarines, which were first introduced into service in 1981. The Columbia class (SSBN 826) program currently anticipates 12 new ballistic missile submarines. We perform design work as a subcontractor to Electric Boat, and we have entered into a teaming agreement with Electric Boat to build modules for the entire Columbia class (SSBN 826) submarine program that leverages our Virginia class (SSN 774) experience. Contract award for the first two Columbia class submarines (SSBN 826 and SSBN 827) and construction start of the first Columbia class (SSBN 826) submarine occurred in late 2020. In 2023, we were awarded a contract modification for long-lead-time material and advance construction in support of five additional Columbia class (SSBN 826) boats, also referred to as Build II of the class.
Naval Nuclear Support Services
Newport News provides additional services to and in support of the U.S. Navy, ranging from services supporting the Navy's carrier and submarine fleets to maintenance services at U.S. Navy training facilities. Fleet support services include design, construction, maintenance, and disposal activities for in-service U.S. Navy nuclear ships worldwide through mobile and in-house capabilities. We also provide maintenance services on nuclear reactor prototypes, such as those at the Kenneth A. Kesselring Site, a research and development facility in New York that supports the U.S. Navy, which were completed in 2024.
Mission Technologies
Our Mission Technologies segment is organized into four groups, All-Domain Operations, Warfare Systems, Global Security, and Uncrewed Systems, and specializes in a wide range of services and products across our capabilities. Capabilities including command, control, computers, communications, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems and operations; the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning to battlefield decisions; defense and offensive cyberspace strategies and electronic warfare; uncrewed autonomous systems; live, virtual, and constructive training solutions; fleet sustainment; and critical nuclear operations.
Command, control, computers, communications, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance ("C5ISR")
Designs, develops, integrates, and manages the sensors, systems, and other assets necessary to support integrated C5ISR operations and accelerated decision-making. These business activities provide data fusion and mission management capabilities for the DoD, the combatant commands, and the intelligence community.
Cyber and electronic warfare ("CEW&S")
Works within our nation’s intelligence and cyber operations communities to defend U.S. interests in cyberspace and anticipate emerging threats. Our capabilities in cybersecurity, network architecture, reverse engineering, software, and hardware development uniquely enable our ability to support sensitive missions for the U.S. military and federal agency partners. We also develop, test, and integrate leading-edge AI and machine learning algorithms to optimize and accelerate the nation’s mission-critical systems and platforms.
Live, virtual, and constructive solutions ("LVC")
A trusted partner to our military customers, our capabilities include designing, developing, and operating the largest live, virtual, and constructive enterprise that prepares warfighters for cross-domain battle. Our training connects live environments with virtual platforms and simulated (constructive) threats to prepare trainees through integrated, real-world scenarios before they are in harm’s way. This is a modern and distributed approach to U.S. military training.
Fleet Sustainment
Provides comprehensive life-cycle sustainment to the U.S. Navy fleet and other DoD and commercial maritime customers. Services include maintenance, modernization, and repair on all ship classes; naval architecture, marine engineering, and design; integrated logistics support; technical documentation development; warehousing, asset management, and material readiness; operational and maintenance training development and delivery; software design and development; IT infrastructure support and data delivery and management; and cyber security and information assurance. We also provide undersea vehicle and specialized craft development and prototyping services.
Uncrewed systems
Develops advanced uncrewed systems for defense, marine research, and commercial applications. Serving customers in more than 30 countries, we provide design, autonomy, manufacturing, testing, operations, and sustainment of uncrewed systems, including uncrewed underwater vehicles and uncrewed surface vessels.
Nuclear and Environmental Services
Nuclear and Environmental Services support the Department of Energy’s ("DoE") national security mission through the management and operation of DoE sites, as well as the safe cleanup of legacy waste across the country. Through participation in joint ventures, including Newport News Nuclear BWXT Los Alamos, LLC ("N3B"), Mission Support and Test Services, LLC ("MSTS"), and Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC ("SRNS"), we meet customers’ toughest nuclear and environmental challenges.
Customers
Our revenues are primarily derived from the U.S. Government, including the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard, the DoD, the DoE, and other federal agencies. In 2024, 2023, and 2022, approximately 80%, 81%, and 82%, respectively, of our revenues were generated from the U.S. Navy.
Intellectual Property
We develop new technologies that are incorporated into the products and services we provide to our customers. We also develop new manufacturing processes and systems-integration technologies and processes that we use to produce our products and to provide services to our customers. In addition to owning intellectual property, we license intellectual property rights to and from other parties. The U.S. Government generally receives non-exclusive
licenses to certain intellectual property we develop in the performance of U.S. Government contracts and unlimited license rights in technical data developed under our U.S. Government contracts when such data is developed entirely at government expense. The U.S. Government may use or authorize other parties to use the intellectual property we license to the government. While our intellectual property rights are important to our operations, we do not believe that any existing patent, license, or other intellectual property right is of such importance that its loss or termination would have a material impact on our business. See "Risk Factors" in Item 1A for further discussion regarding risks related to intellectual property.
Seasonality
No material portion of our business is seasonal. The timing of our revenue recognition is based on multiple factors, including the timing of contract awards, the incurrence of contract costs, contract cost estimation, and unit deliveries. See Note 2: Summary of Significant Accounting Policies in Item 8.
Backlog
As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, our total backlog was approximately $48.7 billion and $48.1 billion, respectively. We expect approximately 21% of backlog at December 31, 2024, to be converted into sales in 2025.
Raw Materials
We rely on third parties to provide raw materials. The most significant material we use is steel. Other materials we use in large quantities include paint, aluminum, pipe, electrical cables, electronic components, fittings, custom machine items, and sensors. In connection with our U.S. Government contracts, we are required to procure certain materials and component parts from supply sources approved by the U.S. Government. For long-term contracts, we generally solicit price quotations for many of our material requirements from multiple suppliers to ensure competitive pricing. While we have not generally been dependent upon any one supply source, we currently have only one supplier for certain component parts as a result of consolidation in the defense industry. We have experienced challenges with access to, and the pricing of, certain raw materials, components, and other supplies due to, in part, labor shortages and inflation. The inability to procure the necessary raw materials, components, and other supplies for our products on a timely and cost-effective basis has negatively affected, and could continue to negatively affect, our results of operations, financial condition, and/or cash flows. We endeavor to mitigate supply chain risk through various measures, such as negotiating long-term agreements with certain raw material suppliers and through price escalation provisions in certain customer contracts. See "Risk Factors" in Item 1A for further discussion regarding risks related to raw materials.
Regulatory Matters
We operate in heavily regulated markets and must comply with a variety of laws and regulations, including those relating to the award, administration, and performance of U.S. Government contracts, as well as legal and regulatory requirements relating to, among others, cybersecurity, environmental protection, and our nuclear operations. These requirements increase our contract performance costs and compliance costs and risks. See "Risk Factors" in Item 1A for further discussion regarding risks related to regulatory matters.
Government Contracting
We are overseen and audited by the U.S. Government and its agencies, including the U.S. Navy's Supervisor of Shipbuilding, the Defense Contract Audit Agency ("DCAA"), and the Defense Contract Management Agency ("DCMA"). These agencies evaluate our contract performance, cost structures, and compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and standards. If an audit uncovers improper or illegal activities, we may be subject to administrative, civil, or criminal proceedings, which could result in fines, penalties, repayments, or compensatory, treble, or other damages. Certain U.S. Government findings against a contractor can also lead to suspension or debarment from future U.S. Government contracts or the loss of export privileges.
U.S. Government agencies also evaluate the adequacy of our business systems and processes relative to U.S. Government requirements. Our business systems subject to audit or review include our accounting systems, purchasing systems, government property management systems, estimating systems, earned value management systems, and material management accounting systems. The U.S. Government has the ability to decrease or withhold contract payments if it determines significant deficiencies exist in one or more of our business systems.
The U.S. Government generally has the ability to terminate contracts, in whole or in part, with little or no prior notice, for convenience or for default based upon performance. In the event of termination of a contract for convenience, a contractor is normally able to recover costs already incurred on the contract and profit on incurred costs up to the amount authorized under the contract, but not the profit that would have been earned had the contract been completed. Such a termination could also result in the cancellation of future work on the related program. A termination resulting from our default could expose us to various liabilities, including excess re-procurement costs, and could have a material effect on our ability to compete for future contracts.
Our contracts with the U.S. Government sometimes result in Requests for Equitable Adjustments ("REAs"), which represent requests for the U.S. Government to make appropriate adjustments to contract terms, including pricing, delivery schedule, technical requirements, or other affected terms, due to changes to the original contract requirements and resulting delays and disruption for which the U.S. Government is responsible. We submit and negotiate REAs in the ordinary course of business, and large REAs are not uncommon at the conclusion of both new construction and RCOH activities. REAs can result in claims under the Contract Disputes Act of 1978 in cases in which we cannot reach agreement with the U.S. Government.
U.S. Government regulations determine contractor costs that are allowable and therefore recoverable from the government, and certain costs are not allowable and therefore not recoverable. The U.S. Government also regulates the methods by which allowable costs, including overhead, are allocated to government contracts. Costs we incur that are not allowable under the Federal Acquisition Regulation (the “FAR”) or U.S. Cost Accounting Standards (“CAS”) or that are otherwise determined to be unallowable or improperly allocated to a specific contract are not recoverable or must be refunded if already reimbursed.
Our business, including contracts with U.S. Government agencies and subcontracts with other prime contractors, is subject to a variety of laws and regulations, including the FAR, the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement ("DFARS"), the Truth in Negotiations Act, the Procurement Integrity Act, the False Claims Act, CAS, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations promulgated under the Arms Export Control Act, the Close the Contractor Fraud Loophole Act, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. A noncompliance determination by a government agency may result in reductions in contract values, contract modifications or terminations, penalties, fines, repayments, compensatory, treble, or other damages, or suspension or debarment. We are also subject to evolving cyber security and data privacy and protection laws and regulations, which increase our costs and compliance risks and may affect our competitiveness, cause reputational harm, and expose us to damage claims, substantial fines, and other penalties. See Note 6: Revenue under Item 8 and "Risk Factors" in Item 1A for further information regarding our contracts.
Nuclear
Our nuclear operations are subject to various safety related requirements imposed by the U.S. Navy, the DoE, and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In the event of noncompliance, these agencies may increase regulatory oversight, impose fines, or shut down our operations, depending on their assessment of the severity of the noncompliance. In addition, new or revised security and safety requirements imposed by the U.S. Navy, the DoE, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission could necessitate substantial capital and other expenditures.
Subject to certain requirements and limitations, our contracts with the U.S. Navy and the DoE generally provide for indemnity by the U.S. Government for losses resulting from our nuclear operations. For our commercial nuclear operations, we rely primarily on insurance carried by nuclear facility operators for risk mitigation, and we maintain limited insurance coverage for losses in excess of the coverage of facility operators. See "Risk Factors" in Item 1A for further information regarding nuclear regulatory matters.
Environmental
Our operations are subject to federal, state, and local laws and regulations relating to the protection of the environment. Substantial fines, penalties, and criminal sanctions may be imposed for noncompliance, and certain environmental laws impose joint and several "strict liability" for remediation of spills and releases of oil and hazardous substances. Such laws and regulations impose liability upon a party for environmental cleanup and remediation costs and damage without regard to negligence or fault on the part of such party and could expose us to liability for the conduct of or conditions caused by third parties.
We accrue estimated costs to perform environmental remediation when we determine it is probable we will incur expenses in the future, in amounts we can reasonably estimate, to address environmental conditions at currently or formerly owned or leased operating facilities, or at sites where we are named a Potentially Responsible Party ("PRP") by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") or similarly designated by another environmental agency. Uncertainties regarding the extent of required remediation, determination of legally responsible parties, and the status of laws and regulations and their interpretations make future environmental remediation costs difficult to estimate and can cause our estimated remediation costs to change.
We believe we are in material compliance with environmental laws and regulations, and historical environmental compliance costs have not been material to our business. We could be affected by new or evolving environmental laws, regulations, or policies. We have made investments we believe are necessary to comply with environmental legal requirements, but we expect to incur future capital and operating costs to comply with current and future environmental laws and regulations. We do not currently believe such costs will have a material effect on our financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. See "Risk Factors" in Item 1A and Note 15: Commitments and Contingencies under Item 8 for further information regarding environmental matters.
Competitive Environment
In our business of designing, building, overhauling, and repairing military ships, we primarily compete with General Dynamics and, in the case of certain non-nuclear shipbuilding programs, smaller shipyards. The smaller shipyards sometimes team with large defense contractors. Intense competition related to programs, resources, funding, and long operating cycles are key characteristics of both our shipbuilding business and the shipbuilding defense industry in general. It is common industry practice to share work on major programs among a number of companies. A company competing to be a prime contractor may, upon ultimate award of the contract to another party, become a subcontractor for the prime contracting party. It is not uncommon to compete for a contract award with a peer company and simultaneously serve as a supplier to or a customer of such competitor on other contracts. The nature of major defense programs, conducted under binding long-term contracts, enables companies that perform well to benefit from a level of program continuity not common in many industries.
We believe we are well-positioned in our shipbuilding markets. Because we are the only company currently capable of building, refueling, and inactivating the U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, we believe we are positioned well to be awarded future contracts to perform such activities. Even so, the government periodically revisits whether refueling of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers should be performed in private or public facilities. If a U.S. Government shipyard were to become capable and engaged in the refueling of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, our market position would likely be significantly and adversely affected.
While we have competed with another large defense contractor to build large deck amphibious ships, we are currently the only builder of large deck amphibious assault ships and expeditionary warfare ships for the U.S. Navy, including LHAs and LPDs. We are also the sole builder of NSCs for the U.S. Coast Guard. We are one of only two companies currently capable of designing and building nuclear-powered submarines for the U.S. Navy, and we are party to long-term teaming agreements with the other company for the production of both Virginia class (SSN 774) fast attack nuclear submarines and Columbia class (SSBN 826) ballistic missile submarines. We are one of only two companies that builds the U.S. Navy's current fleet of Arleigh Burke class (DDG 51) destroyers and are positioned well to be awarded future contracts for surface combatant ships.
Our Mission Technologies segment competes domestically and internationally against large aerospace and defense ("A&D") companies, primarily L3 Harris, Amentum, ManTech, Leidos, and, increasingly, small businesses serving the intelligence community. To a lesser extent, our lines of business compete on certain contracts with major prime A&D contractors, including Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, RTX Corporation, and Boeing.
Key competitive factors in the Mission Technologies segment include technology capabilities; innovative cyber advances and artificial intelligence; the ability to develop and implement complex, integrated solutions; the ability to meet delivery schedules; and cost effectiveness. Our success depends on investments in our people, technologies, and products to meet the evolving needs of our customers. To remain competitive, we must be able to identify emerging technology trends and consistently provide superior service, while understanding customer priorities and maintaining customer relationships.
Our success depends upon our ability to develop, market, produce, and deliver our products and services at costs and on schedules consistent with our customers' expectations, as well as our ability to provide the workforce, technologies, facilities, equipment, and financial capacity needed to deliver those products and services with maximum efficiency.
Human Capital Resources
We recognize that our employees are our most important resources and serve as the foundation for our ability to achieve financial and strategic objectives. Our employees are critical to driving operational execution, meeting customer expectations, delivering strong financial performance, advancing innovation, and maintaining a strong quality and compliance program. Our leaders believe each employee contributes to our success.
We have over 44,000 employees. We are the largest industrial employer in Virginia and the largest private employer in Mississippi. We employ individuals specializing in 19 crafts and trades, with approximately 7,000 engineers and designers and approximately 4,600 employees with advanced degrees. Our workforce contains many third-, fourth-, and fifth-generation employees, and approximately 1,525 employees with more than 40 years of continuous service. Employees in our shipbuilding segments with more than 40 years of continuous service achieve the honor of “Master Shipbuilder.” As of December 31, 2024, we had 1,260 Master Shipbuilders at Newport News and 213 at Ingalls. We also employ more than 6,500 veterans across the enterprise.
In addition, over 1,400 apprentices are enrolled in more than 27 crafts and advanced programs at our two shipbuilding segments. From nuclear pipe welders to senior executives, we employ approximately 4,100 apprentice school alumni at Newport News and Ingalls.
Approximately 45% of our employees are covered by a total of nine collective bargaining agreements. Newport News has three collective bargaining agreements covering represented employees, which expire in February 2027, December 2027 and April 2029. Ingalls has five collective bargaining agreements covering represented employees, all of which expire in March 2026. Approximately 15 Mission Technologies employees in Klamath Falls, Oregon are covered by a collective bargaining agreement that expires in June 2025.
We have not experienced a work stoppage in more than 25 years at Newport News and more than 17 years at Ingalls. We are committed to working effectively with our existing unions and believe our relationship with our represented employees is satisfactory.
The success and growth of our business depends in large part on our ability to attract, retain, and develop a skilled workforce of talented and high-performing employees at all levels of our organization. To succeed in the markets in which we compete for labor, we have developed key workforce development, recruitment, and retention strategies and objectives that we focus on as part of the overall management of our business. These strategies and objectives form the pillars of our human capital management framework and are advanced through the following programs, policies, and initiatives:
Competitive Pay and Benefits - Our compensation programs are designed to ensure we have the ability to attract, retain, and motivate employees to achieve our objectives.
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We provide employee base wages and salaries that are competitive and consistent with employee positions, skill levels, experience, knowledge, and geographic location.
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We utilize nationally recognized surveys and outside compensation and benefits consulting firms to independently evaluate the effectiveness of our employee and executive compensation and benefit programs and to provide benchmarking against our peers within the industry.
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The structure of our executive compensation programs balances incentive earnings for both short-term and long-term performance, and we align our executive long-term equity compensation metrics with long-term shareholder interests.
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Employees are eligible for health insurance, paid and unpaid leaves, 401(k) plans, and life and disability/accident insurance coverage. We also offer a variety of benefits that allow employees to select the options that meet their needs, including: annual leave/paid time off; paid holidays, flexible work arrangements/schedules; telemedicine; parental leave; and a wellness program that includes physical, mental, and financial wellness components. We also fund the operation of Family Health Centers near our two shipyards, which provide a full range of medical, lab, pharmacy, dental, physical therapy, and vision services.
Recruitment, Training, and Workforce Development - We are focused on attracting, retaining, and developing a skilled workforce, and in 2024, we hired approximately 10,000 new employees. To help us meet the increasing demand for talent, we maintain multiple talent pipelines and continue to review and update our talent management strategies to meet operational needs.
One of the key components of our approach to workforce development is to “grow our own.” We operate two apprentice schools, one at Ingalls and one at Newport News. The Newport News Apprentice School was founded in 1919, and the Ingalls Apprentice School was founded in 1952. The two apprentice schools combined have graduated over 15,500 graduates since their inceptions. The schools are nationally renowned and are critical to training both our craft/trades and technical workforce, as well as developing the future leaders of our company. The Ingalls Apprentice School has partnered with the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College to permit their apprentices to earn credits toward an associate’s degree. The Newport News Apprentice School has partnered with two community colleges, as well as Old Dominion University, to enable apprentices to earn a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or Modeling & Simulation.
In addition to operating our own apprentice schools, we maintain partnerships with colleges and universities, military bases for transitioning veterans, and regional community colleges to enable us to recruit and hire engineering, IT, and other technical talent. Working closely with state and local government leaders, we also have facilitated local, regional, and state-wide workforce development and education initiatives that include pre-K programs, high school trades programs/talent development labs, pre-hire trades/technical community college programs, interns/co-ops with colleges and universities, adult trades programs, veterans and military spouses training programs, and unemployed/underemployed training programs.
We view our workforce development process as critical to our success and have developed a robust and effective succession planning process that ensures continuity in our leadership ranks. Since our founding in 2011, we have followed our succession plans over 80% of the time when replacing a vacancy in an existing vice president position, and we have filled approximately 80% of newly created vice president positions with internal hires. See "Risk Factors" in Item 1A for further information regarding our human capital resources.
Environmental, Health & Safety (“EH&S”) - The health, safety, and well-being of our employees, together with protection of the environment in the communities in which we operate, is one of our core values and rooted in our culture across the enterprise. We prioritize, manage, and carefully track safety performance and integrate sound environmental, safety, and health practices to make a meaningful difference in every facet of our operations, particularly at our shipbuilding segments and at DoE sites on which Mission Technologies segment employees work.
Safety goals are included in operational metrics under the Newport News and Ingalls compensation programs. We also use a wide variety of training courses, pre-job “Take Five” crew talks, medical surveillance programs, and employee involvement to focus our workforce on EH&S. At Newport News and Ingalls, a key component of our EH&S program is the utilization of health and safety teams, which are comprised of production and maintenance employees and front-line managers whose goal is to educate, engage, and empower our workforce toward a culture that strives to reduce injury, illness, and environmental impacts. We employ programs focused on identifying, reporting, and abating near misses and other programs that aim to recognize, evaluate, and control hazards, and track multiple metrics related to occupational injuries as one of several methods to monitor our safety performance.
Available Information
We maintain a website at the following address: hii.com. We make available on or through our website certain reports and amendments to those reports that we file with or furnish to the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") in accordance with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). These include our Annual Reports on Form 10–K, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10–Q, and our Current Reports on Form 8-K. We make this information available on our website free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file the information with, or furnish it to, the SEC.
In addition, we routinely post on the "Investors" page of our website (ir.hii.com) news releases, announcements, and other statements about our business and results of operations, some of which may contain information that may be deemed material to investors. Therefore, we encourage investors to monitor the "Investors" page of our website and review the information we post on that page.
References to our websites in this report are provided as a matter of convenience and do not constitute, and should not be viewed as, incorporation by reference of the information contained on, or available through, the website. Accordingly, such information should not be considered part of this report.
The SEC also maintains a website at sec.gov that contains reports, proxy statements, and other information about SEC registrants, including us.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and in our other filings with the SEC, as well as other statements we may make from time to time, other than statements of historical fact, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "guidance," "outlook," "predicts," "potential," "continue," and similar words or phrases or the negative of these words or phrases. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable when made, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements. There are a number of important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the results anticipated by our forward-looking statements, which include, but are not limited to:
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our dependence on the U.S. Government for substantially all of our business
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significant delays or reductions in appropriations for our programs and/or changes in customer priorities and requirements (including government budgetary constraints, shifts in defense spending, and changes in customer short-range and long-range plans);
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our ability to estimate our future contract costs, including cost increases due to inflation, labor challenges, changes in trade policy, or other factors and our efforts to recover or offset such costs and/or changes in estimated contract costs, and perform our contracts effectively;
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changes in business practices, procurement processes and government regulations and our ability to comply with such requirements;
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adverse economic conditions in the United States and globally;
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our level of indebtedness and ability to service our indebtedness;
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our ability to deliver our products and services at an affordable life cycle cost and compete within our markets;
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our ability to attract, retain, and train a qualified workforce;
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subcontractor and supplier performance and the availability and pricing of raw materials and components;
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our ability to execute our strategic plan, including with respect to share repurchases, dividends, capital expenditures, and strategic acquisitions;
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investigations, claims, disputes, enforcement actions, litigation (including criminal, civil, and administrative), and/or other legal proceedings, and improper conduct of employees, agents, subcontractors, suppliers, business partners, or joint ventures in which we participate, including the impact on our reputation or ability to do business;
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changes in key estimates and assumptions regarding our pension and retiree health care costs;
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security threats, including cyber security threats, and related disruptions;
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natural and environmental disasters and political instability;
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health epidemics, pandemics and similar outbreaks; and
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other risk factors discussed herein and in our other filings with the SEC.
There may be other risks and uncertainties that we are unable to predict at this time or that we currently do not expect to have a material adverse effect on our business, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements that we may make.
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