Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced today that Virginia-class submarine New Jersey (SSN 796) was recently launched into the James River at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding division. The 7,800-ton submarine, which had been in a floating dry dock since being transferred from a construction facility in March, was submerged and moved by tugboats to the shipyard’s submarine pier for final outfitting, testing and crew certification. Through the teaming agreement with General Dynamics Electric Boat, approximately 10,000 shipbuilders, as well as suppliers from 50 states, have participated in New Jersey’s construction since the work began in 2016. New Jersey is approximately 92% complete.
“Achieving this construction milestone is a very rewarding event to our shipbuilding team,” said Jason Ward, Newport News’ vice president of Virginia-class submarine construction. “Our shipbuilders and suppliers have dedicated years of hard work to this critical capability that will maintain our customer’s undersea superiority. We now look forward to executing our waterborne test program, and working toward sea trials so we can deliver to the Navy.”
Virginia-class submarines, a class of nuclear-powered fast attack submarines, are built for a broad spectrum of open-ocean and littoral missions to replace the Navy’s Los Angeles-class submarines as they are retired. Virginia-class submarines incorporate dozens of new technologies and innovations that increase firepower, maneuverability and stealth to significantly enhance their warfighting capabilities. These submarines are capable of supporting multiple mission areas and can operate at speeds of more than 25 knots for months at a time.
Huntington Ingalls is an all-domain defense and technologies partner, recognized worldwide as America’s largest shipbuilder. With a 135-year history of trusted partnerships in advancing U.S. national security, HII delivers critical capabilities ranging from the most powerful and survivable naval ships ever built, to unmanned systems, ISR and AI/ML analytics. HII leads the industry in mission-driven solutions that support and enable an all-domain force. Headquartered in Virginia, HII’s skilled workforce is 44,000 strong. HII, ranked No. 371 on the Fortune 500, was formed on March 31, 2011, as a spin-off of Northrop Grumman. HII comprises three divisions: Newport News Shipbuilding, Ingalls Shipbuilding, and Mission Technologies. HII’s Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder.
