GenDyn nabs $64.8M contract to outfit British Dreadnought subs

Aug. 23 (UPI) -- A $64.8 million contract to General Dynamics to support work on the inner hull of the British nuclear submarine HMS Valiant has been awarded by the U.S. Navy.

The cost-plus-incentive-fee contract, announced on Thursday, calls for hardware, assorted deliverables and spare parts for the submarine's Strategic Weapon System Fire Control Subsystem.

The vessel will also be fitted with an innovative lighting system which can simulate night and day, making adjustments easier for its crew during missions in which it is submerged for three or more months.

Work will be performed at General Dynamics' Mission Systems facility in Pittsfield, Mass., with a delivery date of August 2025.

The newly named HMS Valiant, second in the Dreadnought class of submarines that will replace Britain's four Vanguard-class vessels, has not started construction yet. Work on the first of the seven submarines in the class, the HMS Dreadnought, was started in 2016.

The original HMS Valiant, the second of Britain's nuclear submarines, is currently out of commission but afloat at Devonport Dockyard, Plymouth in Devon, England. Launched in 1963, it was refitted in 1970, 1977 and 1989, and carried Trident II missiles.