Navy begins effort to build two submarines a year

NEWPORT NEWS

Work has begun on the first Virginia-class submarine to be built on an accelerated two-submarine-a-year basis, Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. announced Monday.

Construction began Sept. 2 at Newport News Shipbuilding on the unnamed SSN 787, the 14th Virginia-class submarine and the fourth vessel of a third block of the submarines to be built.

"The 787 truly is the first boat that we'll end up delivering two boats within a year period, so it really is the first two-per-year boat," said Jim Hughes, vice president of submarines and fleet support at Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls.

The Newport News shipyard splits construction of the nuclear-powered Virginia-class submarines with General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Conn. The submarines are built in sections that are alternately fitted together at one yard and then the other.

Construction on the SSN 786 began in March at Electric Boat, on the normal one-a-year schedule, Hughes said.

The first block of four Virginia-class submarines has been delivered - the Virginia, Texas, Hawaii and North Carolina.

The second block includes six vessels, four of which have been delivered - the New Hampshire, New Mexico, Missouri and California, which is set to be commissioned late next month. The Mississippi and Minnesota are expected to be delivered within the next two years.

A third block includes eight submarines, beginning with the North Dakota and the John Warner.

To date, the submarines have cost about $2 billion apiece.

The two-per-year construction schedule has been part of the Navy's plan for some time.

It is scheduled to continue through fiscal year 2016, according to a Congressional Research Service report last week.

Hughes acknowledged there is some concern about money as national deficit-reduction efforts get more serious, but he said he had confidence in the track record of the Virginia-class program.

"We believe that continued strong performance on the program is our best hedge against becoming part of the budget ax - recognizing there's no guarantee," Hughes said.

Citing a Sept. 1 report in Inside the Pentagon, a trade journal, the Congressional Research Service study said that while the Navy is weighing an array of budget-cutting options, it "has identified attack submarines as a high priority and wants to preserve the two-per-year procurement rate for the Virginia-class program."

Robert McCabe, (757) 446-2327, robert.mccabe@pilotonline.com