General Dynamics Electric Boat, a business unit of General Dynamics, announced it was awarded a $517.2 million delivery contract against a previously issued basic ordering agreement for procurement and delivery of initial Virginia-class attack submarine spare parts to support maintenance availabilities. Work will be performed in Groton and Pawcatuck, Connecticut. General Dynamics Electric Boat designs, builds, repairs and modernizes nuclear submarines for the U.S. Navy. Headquartered in Groton, Connecticut, the company employs approximately 21,000 people.
“The shipbuilders of Electric Boat are proud to continue our role providing lifecycle maintenance support to the U.S. Navy’s operational submarine fleet in keeping with our mission to provide sailors with the advantage that helps protect our nation,” said Kevin Graney, president of General Dynamics Electric Boat.
The Virginia class, or the SSN-774 class, is the latest class of nuclear-powered cruise missile fast-attack submarines in service with the United States Navy. Designed by General Dynamics Electric Boat (EB) and Huntington Ingalls Industries, the Virginia class incorporates the latest in stealth, intelligence gathering, and weapons systems. On 14 September 2023, at a Senate confirmation hearing, Admiral Lisa Franchetti said that the US Navy would have to work with builders to raise the rate of production from 1.2/year to 2.2/year to meet the AUKUS target.
Virginia-class submarines are designed for a broad spectrum of open-ocean and littoral missions, including anti-submarine warfare and intelligence gathering operations. Because of the low rate of Virginia production, the Navy entered into a program with DARPA to overcome technology barriers to lower the cost of attack submarines so that more could be built, to maintain the size of the fleet. They are scheduled to replace older Los Angeles-class submarines, many of which have already been decommissioned. Virginia-class submarines will be acquired through 2043, and are expected to remain in service until at least 2060, with later submarines expected to operate into the 2070s.
