PANAMA CITY BEACH — Undersea Solutions Group made its debut at a Panama City Beach reception Tuesday as a new subsidiary of major U.S. shipbuilding company Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII).
The new company is a product of HII’s acquisition of the Engineering Solutions Division of the Columbia Group, a Panama City Beach defense contractor specializing in the design and construction of small unmanned and manned underwater vehicles for the U.S. Navy and foreign navies.
Undersea Solutions Group will work closely with and report to the submarine and fleet support division at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Va., a division of HII. The 129-year-old company is one of two in the U.S. that builds nuclear-powered Virginia-class submarines for the Navy, and it is the sole provider of Navy aircraft carriers.
At Tuesday’s reception, Matt Mulherin, president of Newport News Shipbuilding, described the acquisition of the 30-employee company as a “great strategic fit.”
“As a company, you’re really always looking out into the future,” Mulherin said, adding that there will be no changes to the way the organization functions. “It may be a 30-person company, but it’s strategically important for us.”
Ross Lindman, senior vice president of operations for Undersea Solutions Group, said the acquisition will give the company the resources necessary to grow and advance in the industry.
“It will help us grow and expand our capabilities,” said Lindman, who held the same position at the Columbia Group. “It puts us in an organization that has been serving the Navy for 129 years.”
Although Undersea Solutions Group’s production is done on a much smaller scale than that of Newport News Shipbuilding, Lindman said it is important for smaller and larger submarines to work together as the Navy seeks to expand its presence using unmanned devices.
“Unmanned, undersea vehicles will take on greater roles,” he said. “They can’t be everywhere at once.”
With about 38,000 employees, Huntington Ingalls Industries is the largest military shipbuilding company in the U.S. and also provides a variety of services to the commercial and non-commercial oil, gas and energy markets. The company now operates two divisions and eight subsidiaries across the country.