OREANDA-NEWS. The U.S. Navy has awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a USD 520 million contract modification to buy long lead-time material for four Virginia-class submarines, SSN-794, SSN-795, SSN-796 and SSN-797. Electric Boat is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD).

The contract provides funding for steam and electrical-plant components, main propulsion unit and ship-service turbine generator sets, as well as miscellaneous hull, mechanical and electrical-systems components to support construction of the submarines.

With this modification, the contract has a value of USD 1.2 billion. It was awarded initially in April 2012.

The contract continues to support the submarine industrial base in California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Virginia, Arizona, New York, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Illinois, Massachusetts and other states throughout the U.S.

Recognized as a model defense-acquisition program for its technical excellence and schedule performance, the Virginia-class submarine program provides the Navy with the capabilities required to dominate both the open ocean and the littorals. In partnership with the Navy, Electric Boat is successfully pursuing its goal to reduce ship costs without decreasing capabilities through overall efficiency improvements, decreased ship-construction labor costs and shortened ship-construction cycle times.