Under the model, partner yards build outfitted structural units that are inspected and accepted at their own facilities before shipping to Pascagoula for final integration. Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Blanchette said moving selected units outside frees the Pascagoula workforce for complex assembly and integration that only a major shipyard can handle. Ingalls began outsourcing structural units on Arleigh Burke-class destroyers in 2025, selecting partners outside its traditional labor market where skilled workers and facility capacity already existed. Six shipbuilding partners in multiple states took on early work covering DDGs 135, 137 and 139. Flight II ships are replacing the Navy’s LSD 41 and LSD 49 classes of dock landing ships.