NATIONAL HARBOR, Md., April 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HII (NYSE: HII) will showcase its role as America’s largest military shipbuilder and a global leader in autonomous maritime systems, along with expertise in mission-enabling technologies, at the Sea-Air-Space Expo 2026, taking place April 20-22 in National Harbor.

Throughout the event, HII will feature a series of announcements, demonstrations, exhibits, and advertising that highlight its position as America’s Seapower Company.

The company will also present its approach for integrating manned–unmanned maritime teaming and mission-enabling technologies to address the rapidly evolving operational needs of U.S. and allied naval forces.

HII will also highlight its leadership in:

  • Accelerating and delivering the U.S. Navy’s fleet: Nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines, surface combatants and amphibious ships built to project U.S. power globally.
  • Expanding America’s shipbuilding capacity: Increasing throughput via leadership and technology to enhance performance and expanding the industrial base through partnerships and distributed shipbuilding. Throughput represents objective progress in ship construction and is a reliable indicator of schedule performance.
  • Unmanned maritime dominance: Leading production of unmanned undersea vehicles globally and integrating unmanned systems across the fleet.
  • Integrated maritime power: Delivering ships, unmanned systems, and mission-enabling technologies that operate together across the naval force.
  • Technology for joint, all-domain operations: Investing in advanced capabilities that connect platforms and enable complex, multi-domain missions.
  • Building the workforce of the future: We reached labor agreements and increased wages that have helped hiring, retention and proficiency. We are ready to build the fleet for today and tomorrow.


We strongly encourage you to look for this news and other press releases and check HII’s new Newsroom throughout the expo at https://hii.com/newsroom/ .

Events for journalist include:

Monday, April 20 (Day 1)

10:40 AM
Distributed shipbuilding media briefing and photo opportunity.
Contact [email protected] for event details.

1:30 PM
High-Yield Production Robotics (HYPR) partnership media announcement.
HII Booth 923

3:30 PM
A celebration of 25 years of the success of the REMUS unmanned underwater vehicle.
HII Booth 923

Tuesday, April 21 (Day 2)

9:00 AM
HII and build partner Breaux Brothers of Louisiana announcement on progress in HII’s ROMULUS unmanned surface vessel (USV) and next steps in the program.
HII Booth 923

Sea-Air-Space Expo Panel

In addition, HII executives will join U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps leadership and policy and industry experts for panel discussion including:

Tuesday, April 21

9:15 AM - 10:15 AM
Retooling the Defense Industrial Base - AI and Robotics for Sustainment and Manufacturing
Eric Chewning, HII, Executive Vice President of Maritime Systems and Corporate Strategy

2:00 – 3:00 PM
Advancing Navy & Coast Guard Shipbuilding
Kari Wilkinson, HII, Executive Vice President and President of HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division

3:30 – 4:30 PM
From Concept to Capability: Aligning Autonomy Across our Maritime Forces Panel
Duane Fotheringham, President of the Unmanned Systems Group in HII’s Mission Technologies division

About HII

HII is America’s largest shipbuilder, delivering the world’s most powerful ships and all-domain mission technologies, including unmanned systems, to U.S. and allied defense customers. HII is the largest producer of unmanned underwater vehicles for the U.S. Navy and the world.

With a more than 140-year history of advancing U.S. national security, HII builds and integrates defense capabilities extending from the core fleet to C6ISR, AI/ML, EW and synthetic training. Headquartered in Virginia, HII’s workforce is 44,000 strong. For more information, visit:

Contact:

Greg McCarthy
(202) 264-7126
[email protected]

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/59b633f7-03b8-4e92-9db0-92f9b17ec3d3