Ranking Member Courtney Statement on New $2.3B Virginia-Class Submarine Contract Award to Electric Boat

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02), Ranking Member of the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, released the following statement on the U.S. Navy's new $2.3 billion Virginia-class contract for advanced construction of Block VI Virginia-class submarines. This contract will support Electric Boat's acquisition of long lead time material and early manufacturing (pre-construction) efforts associated with Virginia-class Block VI submarines.

"This contract award is another emphatic, positive statement by the Navy of the priority of the Virginia-class program and the American submarine industrial base. Putting down investments on long-lead items for Block VI submarines demonstrates that not only Congress but the Navy is investing in the Virginia-class supply chain," Courtney said. "At the end of the day, executing a full Block VI construction contract will deliver the needed demand signal to the entire submarine industrial base. Congress authorized execution of the Block VI construction contract 29 months ago. It's been long enough. The Department of the Navy needs to finalize the contract so that the full array of submarine suppliers have a clear picture of what their investment decisions must be."

Ranking Member Courtney has been calling the Navy to award the delayed construction contract for Block VI Virginia-class submarines, which Congress authorized in 2023.

In April, in a Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee hearing on shipbuilding, Ranking Member Courtney, referring to the overdue Block VI construction contract, called multi-year procurement the "Da-Vinci Code" to stimulate growth in the shipbuilding industrial base.

According to the Navy, work for this new $2.3 billion Virginia program advanced construction contract will be performed in Sunnyvale, California (30%); Chesapeake, Virginia (4%); Minneapolis, Minnesota (4%); York, Pennsylvania (3%); Tucson, Arizona (3%); Spring Grove, Illinois (3%); Jacksonville, Florida (3%); Stoughton, Massachusetts (2%); Newport News, Virginia (2%); Warren, Massachusetts (2%); Windsor Locks, Connecticut (2%); South El Monte, California (2%); Portsmouth, New Hampshire (2%); Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1%); Goose Creek, South Carolina (1%); El Cajon, California (1%); and all other locations less than 1% (35%).

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