< Back to Front Page Text size – +

Shot in the arm for N.E. economy in sub deal

Posted by Bryan Bender December 22, 2008 02:42 PM

The US Navy this afternoon is expected to award a whopping $14 billion contract to General Dynamics to build eight new attack submarines, providing a stable workload for at least the next decade at the company's Electric Boat shipyard in Groton, Conn., and a key manufacturing facility on Narragansset Bay in Quonset Point, R.I., according to several knowledgeable sources.

The contract for Virginia class submarines "guarantees work on the New England waterfront at least through 2019," said a company official who asked not to be identified before the official announcement from the Department of Defense, which is expected at 5 pm.

General Dynamics employs about 10,500 people between its shipyard in Groton and hull-fabrication plant in Rhode Island.

The company, headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, is the prime contractor on the Virginia project and is splitting the construction evenly between its New England facilities and a Northrop Grumman shipyard in Newport News, Virginia.

The multi-year buy would complete the new class of attacks subs -- which include more than 100 design changes such as improved sonar and missile capacity -- bringing the total to 18. Five have already been completed, five more are currently under construction, with the remaining eight to be ordered today.

The most recent addition to class, the USS New Hampshire, was built in Quonset Point and Groton and delivered to the Navy in October.

The contract would provide enough funding to cover two submarines in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013, with the entire fleet slated to be completed by the end of the decade.

  • CommentComment
  • EmailEmail
» Back to Front Page
.

... Because submarines are crucial to our current defense priorities, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan. Does any non-NATO country even have submarines anymore?

Posted by Pat December 22, 08 03:54 PM
.

Teddy delivers again.

Posted by Bill December 22, 08 04:12 PM
.

And they're ZERO-CARBON vehicles!!!!

Posted by jeff December 22, 08 04:31 PM
.

This should be a big boost in the fight against terror from such landlocked countries as Afghanistan.
They really need pirate-hunting subs for use off Somailia.

Posted by Bruce December 22, 08 04:58 PM
.

$14 billion could pay for the Big Dig OR give Boston the kind of public transit it deserves. Those 10,500 talented employees ought to be employed in manufacturing high speed trains and battery operated cars and trucks of the future that can be exported around the world to build a truly strong national economy. Sorry, but the Virginia class subs are NOT going to protect us from box-cutters and IEDs. These are simply make work projects masquerading as "national defense" that only an Egyptian Pharoh could conceive.

Posted by Joe in Costa Mesa CA December 22, 08 05:48 PM
.

A collosal waste of taxpayer money on sub functionality that was needed during the cold war but is overkill now given our global naval superiority. This money would be much better spent increasing our ground forces and supporting an army capable of addressing the non-sovereign risks facing us in the 21st Century

Posted by Nomptnet December 22, 08 08:09 PM
.

Gee,

Couldn't we get them cheaper in China? I'm told they'll make a hullava (pardon the pun) deal as they already have a lot of our top secret electronics.

Posted by John December 22, 08 08:17 PM
.

build em in quincy

Posted by Max Loew December 22, 08 08:39 PM
.

I'm glad we're maintaining our naval superiority - it's only a matter of time before Al-Qaeda launches a couple dozen nuclear attack submarines of their own.

Posted by Rob December 22, 08 08:42 PM
add your comment *(If you put a URL in your comment, it must be relevant )
Required
Required (will not be published)

This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.

About Political Intelligence

Reports from Boston Globe reporters and editors about the Obama administration, the Massachusetts congressional delegation, and other national political happenings.
see all Globe blogs

News from the Washington Bureau

Some lawmakers push back Catholic church on health care bill

Representative Louise Slaughter has a consistent record advocating abortion rights. So the New York Democrat was stunned recently to receive, for the first time, a letter from a Catholic diocese in western New York, demanding that she explain her vote this month against a health care amendment prohibiting insurance companies from paying for abortions. (Globe Staff, 11/21/09)

Latinos, blacks take harder hit amid recession

Latinos and African-Americans in Massachusetts and across the country are facing high unemployment rates that could spiral to levels not seen in decades as the jobless economic recovery drags on, analysts and urban community advocates say. (Globe Staff, 11/21/09)

Support wanes for curbs on credit-card interest rates

Efforts in Congress to cap credit-card interest rates are faltering because of opposition from Democrats and a lack of specific support from the White House, despite growing consumer outrage over a rush by banks to impose rates as high as 30 percent. (Globe Staff, 11/19/09)

Obama domestic agenda largely a one-party effort

Despite early pleas for bipartisanship, President Obama is forging ahead with his domestic agenda with a largely single-party strategy, unable to corral more than a handful of Republicans on a wide range of major legislation before Congress. (Globe Staff, 11/17/09)

Beirut attack victims’ families face new hurdle

On Veterans Day, Christine Devlin stood in the cold in Westwood for the unveiling of a new memorial to local soldiers lost overseas, including her son Michael, one of the 241 servicemen killed in the bombing of the US Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983. (Globe Staff, 11/14/09)

Powerful health care groups offer optimism on overhaul

Two leading health care interest groups, representing insurers and big business, struck a more conciliatory, even optimistic tone on the health care overhaul yesterday, emphasizing their support of the overall goal of increasing coverage and containing costs even as they warned that the wrong bill could cause great harm. (Globe Staff, 11/13/09)

FHA runs low on cash, fueling bailout concerns

The Federal Housing Administration, which propped up the collapsing housing market last year, acknowledged yesterday that it has drained its cash reserves to dangerously low levels, heightening concerns that it might need a taxpayer bailout. (Globe Staff, 11/13/09)

Earmarks’ cash flow lifts firms, lobbyists, lawmakers

16 defense-related firms in Massachusetts have secured nearly $30 million in federal funding in next year's defense appropriations bill pending in Congress. The tally offers a lesson in the practice known as congressional earmarking, in which lawmakers direct federal money to specific projects, usually in their districts. (Globe Staff, 11/12/09)

Afghanistan wary of US plan to send more advisers

Afghan officials have begun to push back from the Obama administration's plans to send hundreds of advisers to the country, complaining the Americans are often overpaid, underqualified, and unfamiliar with the culture of the country. (Globe Staff, 11/12/09)

Mass. keeps an eye on US bill’s funding ban

Massachusetts officials are closely monitoring an abortion funding ban in the sweeping health care legislation before Congress to make sure that it does not restrict women’s access to abortion coverage in the state. (Globe Staff, 11/11/09)
archives