GROTON, Conn., Aug. 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- General
Dynamics Electric Boat today delivered the nuclear-powered attack
submarine North Dakota (SSN-784)
on time and more than $30 million
below target cost. Electric Boat is a wholly owned subsidiary of
General Dynamics (NYSE: GD).
North Dakota is the 11th ship
of the Virginia Class, which provides the Navy with the
capabilities required to retain undersea dominance well into the
21st century. North Dakota will
join the fleet in a commissioning ceremony Oct. 25 at the Navy submarine base in
Groton.
North Dakota is also the first
of the eight-ship group of Virginia-class submarines known as Block
III. These ships embody a Navy and industry commitment to reduce
costs without decreasing capabilities through an initiative
comprising a multi-year procurement strategy, improvements in
construction practices and the Design For Affordability (DFA)
program.
The DFA program focuses primarily on the redesign of the
submarine's bow, lowering program costs by $800 million, increasing capability and providing
the capacity for additional growth at no additional cost. This
redesign replaces a sonar sphere with a Large Aperture Bow (LAB)
Array and the 12 individual vertical-launch missile tubes with two
Virginia payload tubes (VPTs), which will each initially carry six
missiles in multiple all-up round canisters.
The new LAB Array eliminates hundreds of hull penetrations and
replaces tranducers with lower cost, life-of-the-ship hydrophones.
By nearly doubling the payload space available from 1,200 cubic
feet with the 12 vertical launch tubes to 2,300 cubic feet, the
VPTs will enable Virginia-class ships to deploy a wider variety of
payloads.
"The full range of Block III improvements were successfully
tested during North Dakota's sea
trials," said Kurt Hesch, vice
president and Virginia program manager, noting that the submarine
received the highest quality score to date from the Navy Board of
Inspection and Survey.
"This is an important accomplishment that reflects the skill and
commitment of everyone involved in the Virginia-class submarine
program. Maintaining this level of performance helps the Navy
attain its shipbuilding goals and ensures our continuing success as
a business."
Electric Boat and Newport News Shipbuilding have delivered 11
Virginia-class submarines to the Navy: USS Virginia (SSN-774), USS
Texas (SSN-775), USS Hawaii (SSN-776), USS North Carolina
(SSN-777), USS New Hampshire (SSN-778), USS New Mexico (SSN-779),
USS Missouri (SSN-780), USS California (SSN-781), USS Mississippi
(SSN-782) USS Minnesota (SSN-783) and North Dakota. Seven additional Block III
submarines are under construction, while the 10 ships of the
recently awarded Block IV contract will continue the two-per-year
construction pace through 2018.
General Dynamics Electric Boat has established standards of
excellence in the design, construction and lifecycle support of
U.S. Navy submarines. In its position as an industry leader,
Electric Boat remains committed to advancing its technical
strengths, while providing the business expertise to effectively
manage the challenges of nuclear-submarine production. The
company's two primary locations are in Groton, Conn., and Quonset Point, R.I. Its
current workforce is approximately 12,600 employees. For more
information about Electric Boat, please visit www.gdeb.com.
More information about General Dynamics is available at
www.generaldynamics.com.
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SOURCE General Dynamics Electric Boat