Courtney Statement on New $76.6 Billion Contract Awards to Electric Boat for Block VI Virginia-Class and Build II Columbia-Class Construction
NORWICH, CT – Today, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02), Ranking Member of the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee and a senior Member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, released the following statement after the Navy officially executed contract awards to Electric Boat for construction of nine Virginia-class Block VI fast-attack submarines and five Columbia-class Build II ballistic missile submarines. Electric Boat is awarded $42.1 billion for the Virginia-class program and $29.5 billion for the Columbia-class program. Combined with an additional $5 billion for shipyard enhancements, the contracts total $76.6 billion in value, representing the largest shipbuilding contracts in modern history. Congress authorized both the Virginia-class Block VI contract in 2023 in the FY24 NDAA and this Columbia-class Build II contract in 2025 in the FY26 NDAA. The legislative language in both bills originated in the Seapower subcommittee’s marks.
“These Block VI and Build II construction contracts, which Congress authorized in 2023 and 2025 respectively, provide a surging, unwavering demand signal to the entire submarine industrial base. Together, the Block VI and Build II contracts represent the biggest shipbuilding award in modern American history,” Courtney said. “These multiyear commitments by Congress and the Navy secure work at submarine shipyards and thousands of supply chain companies well into the late 2030s, further boosted by the AUKUS security agreement and the sale of three in-service Virginia-class submarines to Australia in the 2030s.”
“These contract awards will be the driving force to stimulate growth across the submarine industrial base. Crucially, the thousands of small business manufacturers who are essential to the industrial base now have the certainty they have been asking for to make needed investments in hiring, facilities, and equipment,” Courtney continued. “Congress and the Navy must now double-down on industrial base investments that are moving delivery schedules to the left. These are targeted investments, such as the record shipbuilder wage improvement funded by Congress and secured through collective bargaining in 2025 that is fueling record hiring and workforce retention at Electric Boat this year. We must continue expanding the successful workforce training programs that have rejuvenated southern New England’s manufacturing sector so they can skill-up more students and jobseekers for long-term submarine careers.”
Earlier this month, Courtney wrote the op-ed, “Building the 21st Century Arsenal of Democracy,” which highlighted the recent milestone of 10,000 graduates from the Southeastern New England’s Defense Industry Alliance’s network of submarine workforce training pipelines. In the piece, Courtney details the effort, dating back to the launch of the Manufacturing Pipeline Initiative in 2016, to rebuild the region’s manufacturing base.
In March, Courtney wrote a letter to the Department of Defense calling on the Navy to execute delivery of the Virginia-class Block VI construction contract.
In April, in a Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee hearing on shipbuilding, Ranking Member Courtney, referring to the Block VI contract, called multiyear procurement the “Da-Vinci Code” to stimulate growth in the shipbuilding industrial base. To watch and download the hearing clip, click here.
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