Work includes missile long-lead, industrial base enhancements
Work includes missile long-lead, industrial base enhancements
Courtney Mabeus-Brown// December 23, 2022//
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.