A Gulfstream executive and retried Army officer has been selected by General Dynamic to lead its Bath Iron Works shipyard, the company announced on Wednesday.
Charles Krugh, most recently the private jet company’s vice president for supplier operational support, will now lead the Bath, Maine, shipyard – one of two in the U.S. that builds Arleigh Burke guided-missile destroyers.
“Chuck’s leadership, proven track record in manufacturing and expertise in managing complex supply chains will be an enabler to Bath Iron Works as it expands and increases the pace of shipbuilding for the U.S. Navy,” said Robert Smith, executive vice president for GD marine systems, in a Thursday statement.
Previous BIW president Dirk Lesko left the company with little warning following a negotiation with the shipyard workers represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers’ Local S6.
Bath Iron Works builds Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and the Zumwalt-class destroyers at its Maine shipyard. The final ship in the Zumwalt class – Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG-1002) – left the Maine yard in January and headed to Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., to undergo combat systems activation.
BIW will continue to build Flight III Burkes into the foreseeable future as part of a new multi-year destroyer deal the Navy proposed as part of its Fiscal Year 2023 budget ahead of a likely transition in the next decade to the service’s next-generation destroyer (DDG(X)) program.
