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Tag: nuclear submarine

HII division lands $6.7B Air Force contract

The U.S. Air Force has awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries’ McLean-based Mission Technologies division a $6.7 billion contract to provide electronic warfare engineering and technical services support, according to a Thursday announcement from the defense contractor. 

The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract is the largest Mission Technologies has yet landed, according to HII. 

“We have a team of subject matter experts with deep expertise in all aspects of electromagnetic spectrum and electronic warfare, and we are committed to staying a step ahead of our adversaries alongside our customers as the complexity of warfare changes,” Andy Green, HII executive vice president and president of Mission Technologies, said in a statement.

Additionally, HII announced Wednesday that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of W International SC and Vivid Empire SC. Collectively known as W International, the South Carolina complex metal fabricator specializes in manufacturing shipbuilding structures, modules and assemblies.

Aerial shot of manufacturing facility that sits next to water.
W International facility in South Carolina. Photo courtesy HII.

A spokesperson for HII declined to provide terms of the deal. 

After the acquisition closes, the manufacturing facility in Goose Creek, South Carolina, will operate within HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division. The site will support construction of nuclear-powered submarine and aircraft carrier modules and structures for U.S. Navy programs. NNS is one of only two U.S. shipyards capable of designing and building nuclear‐powered submarines.

“Substantially all current employees will be offered positions with HII to continue to work on-site,” the release stated.

“HII is committed to increasing build rates for our Navy customer, and this investment in capacity alongside the Navy will help us do that,” said HII President and CEO Chris Kastner. “It lets us efficiently add trained talent and state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities to the urgent job of building ships.”

The acquired assets include advanced production facilities that are located on a leased 45-acre site with more than 480,000 square feet of manufacturing space as well as barge and rail access.

The facility in South Carolina will be known as Newport News Shipbuilding – Charleston Operations.

Matt Needy, currently Newport News Shipbuilding’s vice president and chief transformation officer, will become general manager of the site. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2024, subject to regulatory approvals and other factors.

Newport News-based HII is the nation’s largest military shipbuilder and the largest industrial employer in Virginia. The Fortune 500 company employs more than 44,000 workers. The Mission Technologies division has more than 7,000 employees and more than 100 facilities globally. HII reported $11.5 billion in revenues for 2023.

General Dynamics’ Electric Boat lands $5.1B submarine contract

General Dynamics Corp.’s Groton, Connecticut-based Electric Boat Corp. has received a $5.1 billion contract modification for the Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarine program, the Pentagon announced Wednesday.

The contract includes missile long-lead material and missile tube manufacturing, advance procurement and construction, material procurement, production backup, and planned equipment replacement and spare parts for the Columbia-class subs as well as logistics and sustainment support for the U.S. and United Kingdom programs. The contract also includes submarine industrial base enhancements to support material procurement and further production of Columbia- and Virginia-class submarines. Work will be performed in Connecticut, Newport News and Rhode Island and is expected to be completed by June 2028.

“This award enhances Electric Boat’s efforts to maintain the Columbia-class production and delivery schedule,” Kevin Graney, president of Electric Boat, said in a statement. “Advance procurement of long lead time materials and component construction is critical to the program, and the strategic investments in the development and expansion of the submarine industrial base will help stabilize and grow the supply chain, which increases manufacturing capacity, reduces risk, and ultimately drives timely delivery of submarines to the Navy.”

The Columbia-class submarine will replace the aging Ohi0-class ballistic missile submarines. Electric Boat, a subsidiary of Reston-based Fortune 500 contractor, is currently building the future USS District of Columbia and USS Wisconsin. Electric Boat expects to deliver the lead Columbia-class submarine to the Navy in 2027. At 560 feet long, the submarines are the largest ever built in the U.S. and will have a fuel core that will power them for their entire lifecycle, eliminating a need for midlife refueling.

General Dynamics in 2019 won the largest Navy contract ever awarded for the Virginia-class nuclear-powered, fast-attack submarine.