Chris Kastner

Chris Kastner serves as President and CEO of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), America's largest military shipbuilder and one of the most strategically critical defense contractors in the country. HII was spun off from Northrop Grumman in 2011 and operates two historically significant shipyards: Newport News Shipbuilding (Virginia) and Ingalls Shipbuilding (Mississippi). Newport News holds the most strategically irreplaceable position in U.S. defense: it is the sole shipyard capable of building nuclear-powered aircraft carriers (the Ford-class, at approximately $13 billion per ship) and one of only two yards (with General Dynamics' Electric Boat) that build nuclear-powered submarines (Virginia-class attack submarines and the upcoming Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines). These programs cannot be moved to another facility — the specialized infrastructure, workforce skills, and security clearances are decades in the making. Ingalls Shipbuilding builds the Navy's amphibious assault ships (LHA), amphibious transport docks (LPD), DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, and Coast Guard Legend-class cutters. HII also operates a Mission Technologies segment providing defense IT, autonomous systems, and training solutions. Key stock drivers include Navy shipbuilding budget allocations, submarine production rate increases (AUKUS agreement), carrier program milestones, labor availability and productivity, shipbuilding margin improvement, and the broader trajectory of U.S. naval spending.