HII (NYSE: HII) announced that the U.S. Navy awarded its Ingalls Shipbuilding division a $283 million contract to perform lead yard support activities for the FF(X) class frigate program. The contract enables Ingalls Shipbuilding to procure long lead time materials, execute design work and begin pre-construction activities for the first ship.

The contract allows Ingalls Shipbuilding to begin cutting and shaping raw materials to support future phases of work on the main structure foundation and overall construction sequencing plan of the first frigate. This approach aims to enable a transition from design to production at Ingalls Shipbuilding and across the industrial base.

"We are proud of our past performance in engineering, design and production of warships that meet U.S. military standards, a performance that gave the Navy confidence to select the national security cutter as the basis for the next small surface combatant and to choose Ingalls as the program's lead yard," said Brian Blanchette, Ingalls Shipbuilding president.

In December 2025, the U.S. Navy selected Ingalls Shipbuilding to design and build the future FF(X), using the design of the Legend-class national security cutter. Ingalls previously delivered 10 national security cutters to the U.S. Coast Guard and will use the same build sequence for the FF(X) program.

The new frigates will be constructed alongside production lines that currently support DDG 51 Flight III destroyers, LHA assault ships, LPD Flight II amphibious transport docks, and modernization activities for the Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyers.

To support construction of next-generation platforms, Ingalls Shipbuilding has invested more than $1 billion in modernizing its infrastructure, facilities, and toolsets, according to the press release.