Navy raises General Dynamics submarine contract to $9.47B

Contract for two Columbia-class submarines was increased by $869M

Published June 23, 2020 by Sydney Lake

Reston-based Fortune 100 aerospace and defense contractor General Dynamics Corp. on Tuesday received an $869 million modification to its 2017 contract to produce two U.S. Navy ballistic missile submarines. The modification raises the contract value to $9.47 billion.

The original Integrated Product and Process Development contract supported the design and construction of Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines. The modification announced Tuesday covers a fully priced option for two Columbia-class submarines, which will replace the Navy’s current Ohio-class submarine fleet. It also will cover “continued design completion, engineering work, affordability studies and design support efforts for the Columbia Class fleet ballistic missile submarines,” according to a U.S. Department of Defense news release. 

The first Columbia-class submarine is expected to be finished by 2031, according to the DoD.

The contract also includes component and technology development, missile tube module and reactor compartment bulkhead prototyping and manufacturing efforts, and United Kingdom Strategic Weapon Support System kit manufacturing for the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines. The U.K., which has been involved since the initial contract award, models its own ballistic missile submarine after the Columbia-class subs.

Most of the work for the contract (41%) is being performed in Groton, Connecticut, where General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp. is located. Approximately 2% of the work will be done in Newport News, with the remaining work performed in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, and other locations across the nation.

Last week, General Dynamics announced that it had received a $104.22 million contract from the U.S. Navy for a range of related services on the Columbia Class submarines, including delivering fire control systems and the first training facility for the new subs.

Electric Boat plans to hire up to 18,000 additional workers during the next 10 years for the project, according Associated Press reports, and General Dynamics is spending $1.8 billion on its facilities to support construction of the submarines, which will include a new 200,000-square-foot building in Groton.

In December 2019, General Dynamics won the largest Navy contract ever awarded, a $22.2 billion multiyear order for nine (or potentially 10) nuclear-powered, fast-attack submarines capable of launching Tomahawk missiles.

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