Hawaii
Hypersonic-Armed Destroyers and Submarines are Relocating to Hawaii – Naval News
A series of upgrades and modernizations at Pearl Harbor are preparing the Honolulu Naval Base for all three hypersonic-armed Zumwalt-class destroyers and up to three hypersonic-armed Virginia-class nuclear attack submarines. The move is a significant relocation of the U.S. Navy’s hypersonic equipped combatant force for a potential war with China.
A coordinated modernization effort is underway across Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam to bring the naval station up to spec for a large number of new ships and submarines that will homeport in Hawaii beginning in mid-2028.
Construction efforts by NAFVAC at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam are preparing berth space and drydock capabilities to base and repair Zumwalt-class destroyers and Virginia-class attack submarines, according to several documents published by the service and viewed by Naval News.
Modernization of Wharfs M1, M2, B26 and B24 will provide space and power requirements for the full complement of Zumwalt-class surface combatants when they arrive in mid-2028. Additional construction to support drydocking and maintenance efforts at the joint base are also expected to begin in coming months.
General Berth Mike 1/2 is already receiving electrical upgrades to support the 4160-volt power delivery requirement needed for the Zumwalt-class. A Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (NAVFAC EXWC) Mobile Utilities Support Equipment (MUSE) substation was installed at the wharf in May. All three wharves will eventually have a permanently installed 4160-volt power delivery capability.
Additional construction to support the ships is expected to begin in March 2026 with completion scheduled for June 2028 when the ships arrive in Hawaii.
“The existing shore power must be upgraded to provide sufficient and reliable electrical for the DDG-1000s in order to maintain wartime fleet readiness capabilities. The DDG-1000s will arrive at the installation by mid-2028. Therefore, this project must be complete and usable before then.”
U.S. Navy
Construction requirements were outlined by NAVSEA in a sources sought notice for contractors that could support maintenance, modernization, and drydocking of the three Zumwalt-class ships at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard (PHNSY). Work related to that is expected to begin in late 2026 at the time of contract award. Contractor will include opening or renovating facilities to store spare parts and long lead time material for the ship class.
In all, NAVSEA wants facilities and contractors ready to support all three ships’ homeport changes by mid-2028.
Two Zumwalt-class destroyers are currently being modernized to field the U.S. Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) hypersonic missiles. A third ship is expected to head into Huntington Ingalls Industries in Pascagoula, Mississippi for modernization in 2026.
Work on the lead ship USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) is expected to be complete by May 2026, and work on USS Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG 1002) began early this year when it was drydocked at Huntington Ingalls Pascagoula. Naval News covered the Lyndon B. Johnson‘s drydocking at the Surface Navy Association’s 2025 conference.
The Zumwalt-class destroyers will carry a combined 36 CPS missiles across three ships of the class, giving the fleet a time-sensitive inshore land attack capability that is not delivered by any other weapon system currently fielded. Development work to integrate a terminal seeker for anti-ship capability is ongoing.
All three ships will also receive a new signals intelligence suite, a new naval datalink platform, and SM-6 integration for area air defense capability. The U.S. Navy views these destroyers as “an independent forward deployed strike platform, with longer range, shorter time of flight, and higher survivability against enemy defenses compared to current capabilities.”
Pearl Harbor is also slated to receive several more Virginia-class attack submarines as part of its shipyard infrastructure modernization plan, all due by 2030. According to the fleet, two or three of the submarines shifted to Pearl Harbor will be equipped with the Virginia Payload Module (VPM) that adds an additional 28 Tomahawk cruise missiles or 12 CPS missiles to each submarine.
“By 2030, a large majority of homeport submarines at Pearl Harbor will be Virginia class submarines. The homeport loading is anticipated to include two to three Block V Virginia Payload Module (VPM) submarines.”
U.S. Navy
USS Arizona (SSN 803) is slated to be the first VPM-equipped Virginia-class attack submarine, with an expected commissioning in 2027. USS Barb (SSN 804) will follow. Arizona is named after USS Arizona (BB-39), a battleship sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Barb is named after USS Barb (SS-220), a storied World War II submarine credited with sinking 17 enemy vessels in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters, including one aircraft carrier in the Pacific.
Based on aforementioned U.S. Navy planning, it is likely that both will homeport in Hawaii.
To meet the demand of additional Virginia-class submarines, the U.S. Navy is modernizing Dry Dock 3 and constructing Dry Dock 5 to accommodate all blocks of the Virginia-class as well as the fleet’s next-generation attack submarine, designated SSN(X). Without the replacement, PHNSY would not be able to work on Virginia-class attack submarines. Modernization will enable intermediate and depot-level modernization requirements for all block variants of Pearl Harbor’s Virginia-class attack submarines.
With at least five CPS-armed ships and submarines based in Hawaii by 2030, the majority of the U.S. Navy’s principal time-sensitive strike force will be positioned to move on China in wartime scenarios, cutting down transit time to the Indo-Pacific by several days compared to homeported ships and submarines in San Diego.
The demolition of Aloha Stadium on Oahu took a big step forward Thursday with the first section of seating pulled down from the steel structure.
Half of the elevated deck-level seating on the stadium’s makai side was severed and toppled backward as part of demolition work that began in February.
The other half of the upper makai-side seating is slated to come down Tuesday, followed by similar sections on the mauka side and both end zones, though the concrete foundations for lower-level end-zone seating are being preserved for a new, smaller stadium to rise on the same site.
A private partnership, Aloha Halawa District Partners, led by local developer Stanford Carr, is replacing the 50,000-seat Aloha Stadium, which opened in 1975 and was shuttered in 2020, with a new stadium featuring up to 31,000 seats.
AHDP is using $350 million of state funding toward the cost of the new stadium, which could be $475 million or more, and will operate and maintain the facility on state land for 30 years with a land lease.
The development team also is to redevelop much of the 98-acre stadium property dominated by parking lots with a new mixed-use community that includes at least 4,100 residences, two hotels, an office tower, retail, entertainment attractions and open spaces expected to be delivered in phases over 25 years and costing close to or more than $5 billion or $6 billion.
Earlier parts of stadium demolition work led by Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. included removing four covered multistory spiral walkways leading to the upper level from the ground, and concourse bridges.
Demolishing the stadium is projected to be done by August, according to Carr.
Building the new facility is expected to be finished in 2029.
Hawaii
This Airbnb Tiny Home Sits on a Lava Field in Hawaii With Unbeatable Night Sky Views—and It’s a Guest Favorite
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/tal-airbnb-one-off-tout-1465b3bde0864117b43761b0d1dd346e.jpg?ssl=1 "This Airbnb Tiny Home Sits on a Lava Field in Hawaii With Unbeatable Night Sky Views—and It’s a Guest Favorite")
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The team behind a popular Hawaii-based home renovation show is now facing legal troubles after airing content that shouldn’t have been released, according to the state.
Hawaii’s Attorney General is now involved after HGTV’s ‘Renovation Aloha’ showed uncensored images of apparent ancient skeletal remains that were discovered at a Hilo property.
In a now-deleted clip on social media, Kamohai and Tristyn Kalama, along with the production team, discovered a cave beneath a Hilo property where they found the remains deep inside.
Video documented their shock when it was found, with the hosts saying, “There’s bones back here. I got to get out of here. Are you fricken serious? I’m serious dude. Is that a skull?”
Tristyn was seen standing further back, saying “This is terrifying. I’m at my stopping point” before leaving.
Hawaii News Now is not showing the bones, but confirmed with HGTV the episode was filmed in December 2025.
Video didn’t show them touching or moving the remains, and HGTV said authorities were notified after the discovery, the property was not developed, and the site was later blessed.
At the time, police said no crime was committed, and the state AG obtained a TRO to prevent the broadcast of the images in accordance with state law.
However this week, uncensored video of the bones was posted online by the Kalamas and HGTV, and included in the episode, triggering a quick rebuke from the community.
“We don’t kaula’i iwi. We do not lay our bones out in the sun to expose him in this manner,” former Oahu Island Burial Council Chair Kumu Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu said.
She also said the release of the images was “extremely disappointing,” saying the damage was already done.
“It is irrelevant that bones were not moved. It is irrelevant that they were not disturbed, per se, because somebody didn’t touch them — but you went into their space and that space becomes kapu space once they have transitioned over to po. And when you do that, we honor that. We don’t disturb them,” Wong-Kalu added.
The AG said they took immediate legal action to prevent the unlawful broadcast of images, pointing to a TRO issued prior to the episode’s release. They also said, “We are aware that the segment aired notwithstanding the court’s order, and we take this matter very seriously. The Department will pursue additional action as necessary.”
Court Documents revealed the Kalamas and producers of the show are now facing four counts for allegedly breaking Iwi Kupuna protection rules.
“If that were our grandparent, would we want them, after they have physically transitioned to po, would we want to share our family in this manner? I don’t think so,” Wong-Kalu added.
HGTV said in a statement, “We take the concerns raised by the community very seriously and are committed to ensuring our programming is respectful and appropriate. We apologize to anyone who found any part of the episode offensive, that was not HGTV’s intention.”
They also confirmed the original episode was removed, and re-edited without the bones included.
Through our communication with the HGTV spokesperson, Hawaii News Now offered the Kalamas a chance to respond directly, but they did not. They did however take to Instagram to address the episode, saying they followed the protocols they knew, and never intended to build there. They stressed their respect for Hawaiian culture and practices.
The investigation remains active.
Copyright 2026 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
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