WASHINGTON — General Dynamics on Thursday appointed Charles Krugh president of its Bath Iron Works shipyard in Maine, after the yard’s former president resigned abruptly last month.

Krugh has worked for General Dynamics businesses since 2011, first as senior vice president and general manager for Jet Aviation and then, starting in 2018, as vice president for supplier operational support at Gulfstream Aerospace.

A U.S. Army veteran, Krugh served in a variety of aerospace manufacturing roles before joining General Dynamics in 2011.

“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,” Robert E. Smith, who leads General Dynamics Marine Systems, said in a company news release.

Dirk Lesko had led the yard from 2016 until early April, when he stepped down from the position. He had worked at Bath Iron Works since 1990.

The company acknowledged his departure in a two-sentence April 7 memo.

General Dynamics is wrapping up its work on the Zumwalt-class destroyer construction and had a nine-ship backlog of work on the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer program when Defense News visited the yard in November.

The yard fell about a year behind schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a labor union strike in 2020. Lesko and local International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union leader Ray Gauthier told Defense News in November the company and the union, as part of their talks to end the strike, had agreed upon a plan that would get the yard back on schedule within three years.

Lesko also said in the interview the yard could be interested in taking on a second ship program to supplement Burkes if the right opportunity came along, and that the yard was awaiting more details on the Navy’s DDG(X) next-generation destroyer that will come after the Burke acquisition ends, likely around fiscal 2030.

Megan Eckstein is the naval warfare reporter at Defense News. She has covered military news since 2009, with a focus on U.S. Navy and Marine Corps operations, acquisition programs and budgets. She has reported from four geographic fleets and is happiest when she’s filing stories from a ship. Megan is a University of Maryland alumna.

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