By Carlo Munoz
Development and construction work can finally begin on a new Virginia-class submarine, with the Navy awarding General Dynamics [GD] Electric Boat $1.2 billion in long-lead funding last week, according to a company statement.
The award puts the company back on track to begin construction on the submarine later this year, and puts the Navy’s shipbuilding plans to construct two Virginia-class subs annually back on schedule. Hunington Ingalls Industries [HII], the new shipbuilding spinoff from Northrop Grumman [NOC], is partnered with General Dynamics on the sub’s construction.
“Today represents the culmination of an extraordinary effort by the Virginia-class team,” said John Holmander, Electric Boat’s vice president for the Virginia program, said in the April 29 statement.
“From the engineers and designers who reduced the cost of the Virginia class, to the shipbuilders who have delivered the submarines ahead of schedule and under budget…and, of course, the Navy, which has managed the program now recognized as a model for Pentagon procurement, this has truly been a collective effort,” he added.
However, the recent showdown on Capitol Hill over fiscal year 2011 spending levels threated to derail the service’s plans to have a second Virginia-class submarine under construction by year’s end. Further, Navy and industry officials were already exploring secondary options for the second sub build, under the assumption an agreement could not be reached.
“That is a really big issue for the team,” HII President and CEO Mike Petters said at an April 4 briefing with reporters in Washington. “This is the year the team was going to ramp up the build to two submarines a year, and getting to two submarines a year was an important part of the pricing for those programs.”
The delay, he said at the time, would drive industy’s cost estimates for the sub’s build higher than anticipated, which would lead to significant overrruns and schedule delays.
But roughly a week after Petters’ comments, House and Senate lawmakers approved a final continuing resolution (CR) and came to terms on a full-year budget that would finance government operations for the remainder of FY ’11. With spending legislation now in place, DoD and the sea service were free to begin work on the next Virginia-class sub build.
Despite dodging a bullet wit the CR and follow-on legislation, industry officials remain “focused on capturing additional efficiencies wherever possible,” Holmander said. “Our task now is to ensure that we demonstrate additional improvement on each ship so taxpayers get the best possible return on the nation’s investment in submarines,” he added.