The United States Navy continues to face delays with nearly all of its programs, with some vessels now running up to three years behind schedule. This week, the country’s largest military shipbuilder announced a new partnership with an artificial intelligence (AI) developer that aims to help streamline efforts and address ongoing delays within its shipyards.
The strategic partnership between Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII’s) Newport News Shipbuilding and Ingalls Shipbuilding divisions and C3AI further broadens the existing relationship with the enterprise AI application software company to integrate AI solutions across its shipbuilding operations. According to the companies, this will include areas such as planning, operations, supply chain management, and labor allocation.
“Increasing shipbuilding throughput is a critical priority for HII and the U.S. Navy,” said HII CEO Chris Kastner. “We’re proud to partner with C3 AI to leverage data and digital capabilities like artificial intelligence in the urgent work of delivering ships to the U.S. Navy.”
Supporting the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Readiness
The firms also highlighted how enterprise AI will help accelerate production and support the U.S. Navy’s fleet readiness needs. It will further provide opportunities in uncrewed vehicle production and sustainment. The collaboration further builds on a six-month initial enterprise AI production deployment program underway at Ingalls Shipbuilding.
Teams at the company’s shipyards have leveraged complex algorithms to adjust and optimize work schedules. The initial deployment of the C3 AI application, powered by the C3 Agentic AI Platform, has already demonstrated significant improvements in schedule performance. The companies explained that it will now be scaled across HII shipyards.
“C3 AI is proud to team with HII to ensure its vision in maintaining the nation’s maritime industrial dominance through the adoption of next-generation shipbuilding technologies. This collaboration underscores our growing role as a strategic provider to the U.S. government and defense sector,” said Thomas M. Siebel, chairman and CEO of C3 AI.
“By deploying Enterprise AI across planning, operations, and the supply chain, we are powering a modern, intelligent infrastructure to ensure America’s edge in naval readiness,” Siebel added, noting it will significantly aid in digitizing the country’s defense industrial base.
Not Taking Jobs
There have been concerns that AI is replacing human workers and taking jobs. However, the shipbuilding industry has been facing severe worker shortages, and AI could help address some of these issues.
In the short term, this partnership is intended to streamline operations; however, it may lead to some skill positions being handled by AI. Yet, that still shouldn’t be a concern.
The industry is experiencing a shortage of welders, and as previously reported, efforts are underway to utilize robotic welders that can operate around the clock and achieve far greater precision. Moreover, autonomous systems may be charged with handling some of the more repetitive tasks and jobs that require manual labor.
This could lead to further data analysis and programming roles within the shipbuilding industry, along with skilled professionals to develop, manage, and maintain the AI systems that are increasingly being used in shipbuilding.
HII currently employs approximately 44,000 people at its multiple facilities across the country, including Newport News, VA, which builds nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines for the U.S. Navy, and Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, MS, which manufactures the service’s amphibious ships and destroyers.
