Arthur McMiler 
- The 101,000-square-foot complex will house SUPSHIP Gulf Coast military and civilian staff
- The building, on leased Port of Pascagoula land, is slated for completion in June 2028
- SUPSHIP Gulf Coast oversees Navy ship construction contracts in three states
HII‘s Ingalls Shipbuilding has started construction on a $50 million facility in Pascagoula, Mississippi, that will place the Navy’s regional shipbuilding oversight team beside the shipyard, tightening ties between the service and one of its primary warship builders.
The division and the Navy’s Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair Gulf Coast, or SUPSHIP GC, marked the start of work with a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday, HII said. The Navy and Ingalls are sharing the cost of the 101,000-square-foot building.
What Will the SUPSHIP Gulf Coast Facility House?
The complex will primarily serve SUPSHIP GC employees now working in Pascagoula. The command administers Navy ship construction contracts in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, and its workforce of more than 600 military and civilians handles quality assurance, engineering, financial oversight and contract administration from the start of construction through delivery.
The site sits on Port of Pascagoula property held under lease, with completion targeted for June 2028. Navy representatives, port leaders, elected officials and community members attended the groundbreaking alongside company executives.
What Did Ingalls and Navy Officials Say About the Project?
Eric Crooker, Ingalls’ vice president of program management, said bringing government partners together would improve efficiency and collaboration as the yard works to deliver ships to sailors.
“Today’s groundbreaking represents an important investment in the future of Navy shipbuilding and in the partnerships that make our mission possible here at Ingalls,” Crooker said.
Capt. Randy Slaff, SUPSHIP GC’s commanding officer, said placing his team in a single building would drive efficiency and alignment across the command’s Gulf Coast programs.
“Our job at SUPSHIP is to collaborate with our industry partners and deliver warfighting capability to the Navy at speed,” Slaff said, calling shipbuilding “a national imperative.”
How Does the Complex Fit Into Ingalls’ Broader Capacity Push?
HII described the project as part of continuing investments by Ingalls in the workforce, facilities and capabilities needed to build Navy warships.
The yard has also been moving work beyond Pascagoula. In July, Ingalls extended its distributed construction model to amphibious ships, contracting two partners for eight structural units on the future USS Philadelphia. The approach began in 2025 on Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, and HII has said it plans to raise outsourced shipbuilding hours by 30 percent in 2026.
In August, HII signed performance-based production agreements with GrayMatter Robotics and Path Robotics under its High-Yield Production Robotics initiative. The deals could direct up to $900 million in shipbuilding work to the two firms over seven years, depending on milestones.
What Other Navy Work Is Underway at HII?
In October, the Navy awarded Ingalls a $99 million contract modification to conduct sea trials of the future USS Lyndon B. Johnson, the third and last Zumwalt-class destroyer. The ship, at Pascagoula since January 2022, is being modified to become the Navy’s second Conventional Prompt Strike-equipped platform.
Across HII’s other divisions, Newport News Shipbuilding is among four companies whose SUBSAFE contract ceiling the Navy raised by $98.1 million in October. HII Mission Technologies holds a spot on a $147.9 million aircraft carrier readiness contract supporting Commander, Naval Air Forces.
Mission Technologies has also expanded its Gulf Coast supplier base for the ROMULUS unmanned surface vessel, adding Halimar Shipyard of Morgan City, Louisiana, to a network that includes Breaux Brothers Enterprises and Bayou Metals. The Navy has selected ROMULUS for at-sea demonstrations under its Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel effort.
