Electric Boat nabs $173.8M for support of Navy's strategic, attack subs

July 12 (UPI) -- General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp. has been awarded a $173.8 million contract for submarine design and engineering support for the Navy.

The Groton, Conn., company will provide engineering, technical, design agent and planning yeard support for the Navy's operational strategic and attack submarines, the Department of Defense said Thursday.

The contract is the second Electric Boat has been awarded recently for work to support the overall submarine fleet, including maintenance and workforce improvements for port facilities where the subs are worked on.

Under the new contract, which runs through September 2023, the company is responsible for technical trade support, training and facility support, research development test and evaluation program support, and other analytical work for the Navy.

Ship-specific tasks listed in the announcement also include engineering of hull, mechanical and electrical structures, configuration change program design, technical trade support and modernization of submarine or submersible systems.

The contract includes options which could adjust its value to over $1 billion over the roughly four-year timetable.

In May, Electric Boat was awarded a $497 million contract to support future ballistic missile submarines and the nuclear shipbuilding enterprise. That contract called for expansion of the submarine industrial base to support development and construction of the Columbia-class fleet of ballistic missile submarines, which will replace the Ohio-class.