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A delegation of Australian parliamentarians have been hosted by shipbuilder and all-domain technologies provider HII at the Newport News Shipbuilding division.
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During the visit, the delegation, which included Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, D-Va. and Rep. Rob Wittman, engaged with senior leadership about the company’s nuclear-powered submarine sustainment expertise, supply chain management experience, and longstanding industry-leading workforce development efforts.
The Australian delegation included Milton Dick, Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives; Australian House of Representatives members David Littleproud, Sharon Claydon, Joanne Ryan and Bert van Manen; as well as officials from the Parliament of Australia and the Embassy of Australia.
“We are honoured the delegation chose to invest time with us during their trip to the United States and thank congressmen Scott and Wittman for their continued support,” Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) president Jennifer Boykin said.
“We value every opportunity to demonstrate how HII is working in earnest to leverage our experience and stewardship of complex platforms and technologies in support of the critical AUKUS agreement.”
NNS is one of only two shipyards capable of designing and building nuclear-powered submarines for the US Navy.
HII is the founding member of the AUKUS Workforce Alliance, a dedicated partnership committed to preparing a skilled workforce in support of all steps of Australia’s optimal pathway to sovereign nuclear-powered submarines.
“The AUKUS agreement is integral to deterring China’s growing military aggression in the Indo-Pacific, and Virginia’s robust submarine industrial base plays an outsized role in upholding our nation’s commitment to this trilateral security pact,” Wittman said.
“As vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, I was proud to bring this delegation of Australian parliamentarians to Newport News and show them the cutting-edge platforms and technology used to build Virginia Class submarines here in the Commonwealth.”
The visit was held in support of the trilateral Australia, United Kingdom, and United States (AUKUS) partnership.
HII continues to bolster AUKUS, which set in motion tasking across all three countries to determine the optimal pathway to provide Australia with conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines.
“I’m proud to lead a delegation of cross-party representatives from the Australian Parliament to demonstrate enduring bipartisan support for the AUKUS partnership,” Dick said.
“It was great to join congressmen Wittman and Scott for this visit to HII. The tour was an excellent opportunity to deepen our understanding of the work behind nuclear-powered submarine construction, workforce and supply chain development as Australia develops our nuclear-powered submarine enterprise.”
