US Navy Awards $5 Billion to General Dynamics for Nuclear-Powered Submarine Design

General Dynamics Electric Boat is being awarded a $5,071,534,074 contract for the Integrated Product and Process Development design completion for the Columbia-class nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs).

The submarine is intended to fire nuclear missiles at enemy positions after remaining hidden under-water.

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.

This contract includes foreign military sales to the United Kingdom (14 percent). Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut (77.4 percent); Newport News, Virginia (12.7 percent); and Quonset, Rhode Island (9.9 percent), and is expected to be completed by December 2031.

Fiscal 2017 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); fiscal 2017 research, design, test and evaluation (Navy); and United Kingdom funding in the amount of $175,101,310 will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

This contract was not competitively procured as only General Dynamics Electric Boat currently possesses the entirety of the nuclear ballistic missile submarine design, engineering workforce and data environment to support completion of the highly specialized submarine design products and integration efforts to meet all of the contemplated technical and schedule contract requirements.