Subs may boost workers by 2,000

Newport News' Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding and General Dynamics Electric Boat Co. will build eight more nuclear-powered submarines in a project that could increase employment at the Newport News shipyard by 2,000 people by 2015.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said Northrop Grumman will invest an estimated $250 million in a new production facility in Newport News as a result of the Navy Department's order to build eight additional subs.

The companies already had delivered five Virginia-class submarines to the Navy -- the USS Virginia, the USS Texas, the USS Hawaii, the USS North Carolina and the USS New Hampshire and have five more under construction.

The $14 billion contract for the additional eight submarines was awarded to Electric Boat, which is teaming with Northrop Grumman to build the subs. Electric Boat builds part of the subs at its shipyard in Groton, Conn.

The contract calls for the two companies to proceed with the construction of one ship per year in 2009 and 2010 and doubling the pace of production to two ships per year from 2011 through 2013. The eighth ship is scheduled for delivery in 2019.

Electric Boat is a subsidiary of General Dynamics, which is based in Falls Church. The Navy said about 25 percent of the work will be done in Newport News and 30 percent in Connecticut and Rhode Island. The rest will be done throughout the U.S.

"The employment opportunities for this contract are far-reaching," Kaine said.

"Multiple Virginia companies that provide subcontractor services to Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding and General Dynamics Electric will also benefit from a project of this magnitude."

Matt Mulherin, sector vice president and general manager of the Newport News facility, said the contract "brings stability to the submarine program, to our work force and to the shipbuilding supplier industrial base for the next decade."

John P. Casey, Electric Boat president, said "at a time when the country has a challenging economic outlook, this contract will provide good jobs not just in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Virginia, but in thousands of communities across the country as our vendors gear up for increased production on the Virginia class."

Casey said gearing up to produce two subs a year will bring job stability to the project.

Kaine noted that the announcement comes six weeks after AREVA said it will build a new facility in Newport News that will employ more than 500 people.

Bloomberg News reported that the Virginia-class submarine is designed to be able to fire Tomahawk cruise missiles; attack surface ships and conduct reconnaissance against land targets.
Contact Tyler Whitley at (804) 649-6780 or .

Staff writer Bill Geroux contributed to this report.