PHOTO RELEASE--Huntington Ingalls Industries Names Brandi Smith as Program Director for Columbia-Class Submarine Program at Newport News Shipbuilding

NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Jan. 21, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) announced today that Brandi Smith has been named program director of the Columbia-class submarine program at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding division.

In this new role, Smith will be responsible for leading the company’s construction activities for the U.S. Navy’s new class of ballistic-missile submarines, as well as maintaining strong relationships with General Dynamics Electric Boat and Navy customers.

Newport News is a major contractor and shipbuilding partner in the Columbia-class program and is performing advance construction activities under a contract the shipyard received from Electric Boat. The Columbia-class will replace the fleet of Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines.

Smith began her career at Newport News in 2002 as an engineer in the carrier overhaul program. She has held positions of increasing responsibility throughout her career, including interim director of construction engineering for the Ford-class, engineering lead for Integrated Digital Shipbuilding (iDS), and most recently director of quality control responsible for all nuclear, non-nuclear, and non-destructive testing (NDT) inspectors.

A photo accompanying this release is available at:

Smith will report to Jason Ward, Newport News vice president for Columbia-class submarine construction.

“Brandi brings demonstrated leadership skills required to sustain the momentum achieved in our Columbia-class program,” Ward said. “We look forward to her joining our team.”

Smith holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University and a Master of Business Administration degree from the College of William & Mary.

Huntington Ingalls Industries is America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. For more than a century, HII’s Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. HII’s Technical Solutions division provides a wide range of professional services through its Fleet Support, Mission Driven Innovative Solutions, Nuclear & Environmental, and Oil & Gas groups. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs more than 42,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit:

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Contact:

Duane Bourne



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