Newport News Shipbuilding is responsible for the final construction of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and many submarines, but not every component can be built here. Behind the shipyard’s products is a global supply base of shipbuilding partners who help bridge gaps in capacity, capability and technology.

To bring these partners together, NNS hosted the 2026 Industry Days – a two-day conference focused on tackling problems that enable more efficient program execution as a community.

“We expect this to be a collaborative effort to understand where the challenges are in the industrial base,” said Matt Mulherin Jr., vice president of Supply Chain and Strategic Sourcing.

He added that the event is grounded in the mission of getting ships to the U.S. Navy faster.

“That’s the north star. Our goal is to figure out how we align this community to go and get after some of the problems that are standing in the way of delivering ships faster.”

Over 250 attendees from various suppliers – both traditional suppliers and distributed shipbuilding partners – traveled to Newport News to participate in the conference.

Rear Adm. Kavon Hakimzadeh, the commander of Norfolk Naval Shipyard, opened the second day of the conference by affirming that shipbuilders and suppliers are not merely support for the fleet, but critical to naval operations.

“Maintaining our ships, and doing what this group does, is the tactical advantage of what our nation needs right now,” Hakimzadeh said. “Thank you for what you do.”

He also spoke to the importance of each program that shipbuilders contribute to.

“There are only a couple of United States-used airfields that have not been hit by Iranian drones or missiles. They are all named after U.S. presidents, and they all float,” he said. “The Columbia class is literally our top national defense priority. It is the most survivable leg of our nuclear triad and the reason the United States will continue being the United States.”