Please Welcome Huntington Ingalls to the IW U.S. 500

Shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. (IW 500/156) is making its debut on IndustryWeek's IW U.S. 500, coming in at No. 156 (as Casey Kasem would say) on IndustryWeek's 2012 ranking of the largest publicly traded manufacturers in the United States.

The company -- which is the U.S. Navy's sole supplier of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers - spun off from Northrop Grumman Corp. in March 2011.

With $6.58 billion in total revenue in 2011, the shipbuilder finds itself sandwiched between high-tech component maker Sanmina-SCI Corp. (IW 500/155), with 2011 revenue of $6.6 billion, and semiconductor manufacturer Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (IW 500/157), with 2011 revenue of $6.57 billion.

Earlier in the year, I spoke with Huntington Ingalls CEO Mike Petters about the company's first year as a standalone entity.

Reflecting on Year 1, Petters said: "We delivered the ships that we said we were going to deliver. We generated the cash that we said we were going to generate. We achieved the margins that we said we were going to achieve. And so from that standpoint, it was a very successful year. Nothing's changed this year."