GROTON — Electric Boat is aiming to deliver the Navy’s first Columbia-class submarine by the end of 2028 while increasing production and hiring, according to General Dynamics executives’ October 30 earnings-call remarks reported Friday by The Day.
The newspaper reported that General Dynamics President Danny Deep placed both the first Columbia and first Virginia-class submarine equipped with the Virginia Payload Module on that timetable. These are delivery goals, rather than completed milestones.
For southeastern Connecticut workers and suppliers, the production push extends beyond a single submarine. The Day reported that Deep said Electric Boat had brought on about 6,000 new shipbuilders this year and expected to reach 8,000 by year’s end. Those figures describe hiring across Electric Boat; they are not a count of new Groton-only positions.
Electric Boat’s own program description says Columbia construction is underway at its Groton shipyard and Quonset Point facility in Rhode Island, supported by more than 3,000 suppliers nationwide. The company is the prime contractor for the 12-ship class and says it will perform about 78% of construction, with Newport News Shipbuilding handling the remaining workload focused on the bow and stern.
The Columbia boats are intended to replace the Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine fleet. Electric Boat says their reactors are designed to last for the ships’ service lives, eliminating a refueling overhaul.
General Dynamics’ October 30 financial release gives a broader measure of the shipbuilding expansion: Marine Systems revenue reached $4.96 billion in the third quarter, up 21.1% from a year earlier. That segment includes shipyards besides Electric Boat, so the figure does not measure Groton’s output alone.