U.S Navy Awards New Contract To Accelerate Construction Of Columbia-Class Submarines

The U.S Navy finalised a $15.38-billion contract modification with General Dynamics Electric Boat to speed up the production of the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) fleet, which remains the Navy’s top priority.

The new contract also covers design, yard support and sustainment, per the U.S Department of War.

Columbia-class will replace the old and obsolete Ohio-class submarines in the 2030s and remain in active service until 2084.

Per the new contract, the company’s subsidiary will also address supply chain issues and logistical bottlenecks that have delayed the delivery of the first Columbia submarine.

Columbia-class is the Navy’s biggest submarine at a staggering 171 metres. They will be 13 m wide and have a submerged displacement of 20,815 tonnes.

The submarines will have a teardrop hull, sail-mounted hydroplanes, a bow-mounted aperture sonar array, 16 Trident submarine-launched ballistic missile tubes, an X-shaped stern and an all-electric drive propulsion module.

The first submarine was to be delivered in 2027; however, supply chain disruptions induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, delayed raw material delivery, build quality issues, and the need for redesigning and reworking some parts of the submarine have led to delays in the project.

The Navy has stated that the lead submarine will be delivered by 2028, followed by the second one, which will be operational by the end of the decade.

The Navy expects that the production of the other submarines will be in full swing by 2031, and the new contract modification aims to build on that momentum.

There are other challenges as well, which have slowed down the production of naval vessels.

For instance, per the US Department of War, the supplier base has reduced from 17,000 suppliers in 1980 to just a meagre 3500 in 2020, which has forced the navy to depend on single and sole-source suppliers.

From 2018 onwards, the Navy gave supplier development funding to tier two and tier three suppliers to support local companies.

The initial agreement worth $9.5 billion was finalised in 2020, which included the construction of the first two submarines in the fleet, the USS District Columbia and the USS Wisconsin.

The construction work of the submarines is being done in various locations, including Groton, Connecticut; Newport News, Virginia; and Sunnyvale, California.

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