As Connecticut's Electric Boat Thinks Big On Hiring, U.S. Navy Adding Small Subs

CT Insider

By: Alexander Soule

July 26, 2023


As General Dynamics Electric Boat works on a new submarine variant for "seabed warfare" missions, the Pentagon is looking to add a fleet of smaller drone subs to take on clandestine missions that would give commanders far more flexibility.

At its Groton shipyard and an auxiliary plant in Rhode Island, Electric Boat has two major programs under way building Virginia-class attack submarines and larger Columbia ballistic missile submarines, with the latter to replace Ohio-class subs that are hitting retirement in the coming years. The two programs account for half of the Navy's vessel construction budget in the coming years, according to the Navy's most recent projections.

Virginia-class sub construction has been split between Electric Boat and rival Newport News Shipbuilding operated by Huntington Ingalls Industries, but Newport News is to see an increased share of assembly work in the coming years as the Columbia-class subs take shape in Groton.

Electric Boat has been working up a modified Virginia-class design to allow for enhanced "seabed warfare" missions to disrupt underwater communications lines, sensors and other infrastructure, or launching payloads. The sub under construction is expected to cost $5.3 billion, according to a July update by the Congressional Research Service.

Lockheed Martin recently delivered "dry combat" submersibles for the Navy made in Palm Beach, Fla., small submarines to ferry a half-dozen commandos for clandestine missions as an alternative to "swimmer delivery" vessels that lack dry compartments. Lockheed Martin, which owns Sikorsky in Stratford, has a prior history building submersibles dating back to the 1970 launch of the deep-sea rescue vehicle Mystic, which is named for the Connecticut village.

During a Wednesday morning conference call with investment analysts, General Dynamics CEO Phebe Novakovic described as "significant" the challenges that continue to face the Virginia-class program at Electric Boat, as Columbia construction gains priority amid continuing shortages of qualified workers.

"That's going to take some time to resolve," Novakovic said. "We see some improvements — and very nice improvements — in some areas, but that supply chain was hit hard by COVID."

The cost of Virginia-class boats has ballooned to an estimated $4.3 billion on average according to the most recent estimate this month by the Government Accountability Office. The Navy ordered an 84-foot midsection for future Virginia-class subs to accommodate four extra launch tubes for Tomahawk cruise missiles, submersibles and accompanying storage space, along with a dozen missile tubes in the bow section. That is intended to help the Navy field adequate firepower at sea, as Columbia-class subs are built and Ohio-class subs retired.

Construction has been complicated by thousands of Electric Boat workers nearing retirement themselves, putting the manufacturer on a hiring binge to fill the shoes of those people while building up its Connecticut and Rhode Island workforces.

At last report, Electric Boat had 13,600 workers at its Groton shipyard, a large office complex in New London and smaller locations nearby.

The company currently lists about 830 openings in Connecticut and another 450 in Rhode Island. But the actual number is higher, a spokesperson confirmed, with Electric Boat's online career portal topping out at 100 positions for entry-level engineers and tradespeople, and for electrical engineers and computer scientists.

General Dynamics' marine systems division also includes Bath Iron Works in Maine, which builds destroyers; and NASSCO in San Diego, which focuses on naval support ships like tankers.

Revenue across General Dynamics shipyards rose 15 percent in the second quarter to top $3 billion. General Dynamics tacked on an extra $1.9 billion in backlog for future marine systems division orders, pushing its tally of future revenue to $50 billion.

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