China built more ships in the last year than the entire U.S. industrial base produced in decades — and U.S. shipbuilders are racing to close the gap.

In this episode of Mission Critical, host Ryan Robertson travels to the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Expo to examine the future of American naval power and a growing solution called Distributed Shipbuilding — a strategy designed to expand production beyond traditional shipyards and rebuild the U.S. maritime industrial base.

Major defense companies including HII, Trident Maritime Systems, and Fairbanks Morse Defense explain how spreading ship construction across the country could accelerate delivery of aircraft carriers, submarines, destroyers, and amphibious warships.

As China rapidly expands its naval fleet, U.S. industry leaders say solving workforce shortages, supply chain challenges, and production bottlenecks is now a national security priority.

In this episode:

• Why China’s shipbuilding capacity alarms U.S. defense planners
• What “Distributed Shipbuilding” actually means
• How modular construction could transform naval production
• Lessons from World War II industrial mobilization
• Why shipyards may become final assembly facilities
• The race to rebuild America’s maritime industrial base

Featuring interviews with:

• Kari Wilkinson, President, Newport News Shipbuilding
• Joe Mullen, CEO, Trident Maritime Systems
• George Whittier, CEO, Fairbanks Morse Defense

If you follow naval warfare, defense industry news, military technology, or geopolitics — this episode breaks down one of the most important industrial challenges facing the United States today.

Autonomous robots are coming to U.S. shipyards — and it could transform how the U.S. Navy builds warships.

In this episode of Mission Critical, we go inside the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space 2026 exhibition to explore how artificial intelligence, autonomous robotics, and human ingenuity are reshaping American naval production.

Host Ryan Robertson breaks down the new HYPR (High Yield Production Robotics) partnership announced in National Harbor, MD, between HII, Path Robotics, and GrayMatter Robotics — an ambitious effort to bring physical AI into one of the most complex manufacturing environments on Earth: shipbuilding.

Featuring interviews with:

• Sean Cassady, Director of Operations & Technology Strategy at HII
• Ariyan Kabir, Co-Founder & CEO of GrayMatter Robotics

In this episode of Mission Critical, host Ryan Robertson breaks down the Pentagon’s push for MOSA, Modular Open Systems Approach to military architecture.

See how the sweeping mandate could transform the way America designs and builds warships, weapons, software, and AI systems. 

Plus:

⚓   Shipbuilding workforce updates

🚀  Precision Strike Missile combat debut

🇺🇲  USS Cole’s legacy of resilience

The U.S. Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79), completed sea trials in February. Now, we’re taking you behind the scenes with the team responsible for capturing it all.

In this episode of Mission Critical, host Ryan Robertson sits down with the storytellers from Newport News Shipbuilding who documented the Kennedy’s at-sea testing in the Atlantic.

From high-speed turns to the nonstop grind of chasing “evolutions” across an 1,100-foot warship, this is a rare look at what it takes to bring the sights and sounds of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to the world.

You’ll hear firsthand:

• What sea trials are really like aboard a Ford-class carrier
• How crews capture footage in one of the most demanding environments on Earth
• The surprising realities of life aboard an aircraft carrier

The USS JFK is more than just a warship. It represents the work of thousands of shipbuilders and sailors—and the storytellers making sure their efforts are never forgotten.

Watch this episode on YouTube.

Artificial intelligence is quickly changing the way wars are fought — and the U.S. Navy is leaning heavily into software, autonomy, and unmanned systems to stay ahead.

In this episode of Mission Critical, host Ryan Robertson explores how the Navy is building a new kind of combat network where crewed ships, aircraft, and autonomous drones operate together as one connected force.

At the center of this transformation is the Minotaur mission management system, a software platform that fuses data from sensors across ships, aircraft, and unmanned vehicles into a single real-time picture of the battlefield. Think of it like the operating system for the Navy’s future fleet — where new capabilities can be added like apps instead of rebuilding entire platforms.

Ryan speaks with defense industry leaders and former Navy officials about how AI autonomy stacks like Odyssey and Hivemind are enabling unmanned vessels, aircraft, and drones to operate collaboratively — extending the reach, survivability, and lethality of manned platforms.

You’ll learn how autonomy allows a single operator to potentially control dozens—or even hundreds—of unmanned systems, how AI pilots are already flying drones in contested environments like Ukraine, and why human oversight remains critical when it comes to lethal decisions.

Also in this episode:

• A new partnership using robotic welding AI to speed up U.S. Navy shipbuilding
• Why the Pentagon wants new C-130J ski planes for Arctic operations
• A look back at the 231st anniversary of the U.S. Naval Supply Corps

As autonomous systems, electronic warfare, and directed energy weapons reshape the battlefield, one thing is clear: the future of naval warfare will be built on software, networks, and intelligent machines working alongside human warfighters.

Why does the U.S. Navy need a new Frigate? Find out in Episode 3 of Mission Critical! Host Ryan Robertson talks with several maritime experts about the new class of frigate the U.S. Navy wants, which is based on the HII-built Legend-class National Security Cutter the U.S. Coast Guard uses. Steven Wills from the Navy League’s Center for Maritime Strategy and Bryan Clark from the Hudson Institute both explain why the new frigate won’t need to be armed to the teeth to be in the water in 2028.

This episode also covers the U.S. Navy’s future network of underwater sensors known as NEREUS, Admiral Darryl Caudle’s new Fighting Instructions, and explores the early history of submarine-launched missiles.

Episode 2 of Mission Critical is going to the drones! Host Ryan Robertson explores the concept of maritime Manned-Unmanned Teaming, also called Hybrid fleets. HII’s Romulus family of Unmanned Surface Vessels is poised to play a big part of future operations in both the U.S. and British navies.  Robertson talks with Eric Chewning, the head of HII’s Dark Sea Labs, and Sir Nick Hine, the former Second Sea Lord of the British Royal Navy and current Maritime chief executive for Babcock International. 

This episode also covers the latest on the U.S. Navy’s future jet fighter, the F/A-XX; new plans for the much-maligned Littoral Combat Ships; and explores an early part of the history of naval aviation.