Navy SSNs since 1960.
Such a long production run seems unlikely but another naval program, the , is still ongoing even though the first vessel was procured in 1985.
The "Centurion Study" was initiated in February 1991.
In a 10 March 2005 statement to the House Armed Services Committee, Ronald O'Rourke of the CRS testified that, assuming that the production rate remains as planned, "production economies of scale for submarines would continue to remain limited or poor." In 2001, Newport News Shipbuilding and the General Dynamics Electric Boat Company built a quarter-scale version of a Virginia-class submarine dubbed Large Scale Vehicle II (LSV II) Cutthroat.
In a 10 March 2005 statement to the House Armed Services Committee, Ronald O'Rourke of the CRS testified that, assuming that the production rate remains as planned, "production economies of scale for submarines would continue to remain limited or poor." In 2001, Newport News Shipbuilding and the General Dynamics Electric Boat Company built a quarter-scale version of a Virginia-class submarine dubbed Large Scale Vehicle II (LSV II) Cutthroat.
Design problems for Electric Boat – and maintenance problems for the Navy – ensued nonetheless. By 2007 approximately 35 million labor hours had been spent to design the Virginia.
Two submarine-per-year production resumed on 2 September 2011 with commencement of construction. On 21 June 2008, the Navy christened USS New Hampshire, the first Block II submarine.
Improvements in shipbuilding technology have trimmed production costs below the $1.8 billion projected fiscal year 2009 dollars. In hearings before both House of Representatives and Senate committees, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and expert witnesses testified that the annual procurement rate of only one Virginia class boat – rising to two in 2012 – would result in excessive unit production costs, yet an insufficient complement of attack submarines.
The contract required the delivery of one submarine in each of fiscal 2009 and 2010, and two submarines on each of fiscal 2011, 2012, and 2013.
Beginning in 2010, new submarines of this class will include a software system that can monitor and reduce their electromagnetic signatures when needed. The first full-duration six-month deployment was successfully carried out from 15 October 2009 to 13 April 2010.
As a result of improvements in the construction process, New Hampshire was US$500 million cheaper, required 3.7 million fewer labor hours to build (25% less), thus shortening the construction period by 15 months (20% less) compared to Virginia. === Block III === through SSN-791 (8 boats) make up the Third Block or "Flight" and began construction in 2009.
The contract required the delivery of one submarine in each of fiscal 2009 and 2010, and two submarines on each of fiscal 2011, 2012, and 2013.
In December 2010, the United States Congress passed a defense authorization bill that expanded production to two subs per year.
Beginning in 2010, new submarines of this class will include a software system that can monitor and reduce their electromagnetic signatures when needed. The first full-duration six-month deployment was successfully carried out from 15 October 2009 to 13 April 2010.
In September 2010, it was found that urethane tiles, applied to the hull to damp internal sound and absorb rather than reflect sonar pulses, were falling off while the subs were at sea.
More recent reports state that as a cost reduction measure the VPM would carry only Tomahawk SLCM and possibly unmanned undersea vehicles (UUV) with the new price tag now estimated at $360–380 million per boat (in 2010 prices).
The contract required the delivery of one submarine in each of fiscal 2009 and 2010, and two submarines on each of fiscal 2011, 2012, and 2013.
Two submarine-per-year production resumed on 2 September 2011 with commencement of construction. On 21 June 2008, the Navy christened USS New Hampshire, the first Block II submarine.
Improvements in shipbuilding technology have trimmed production costs below the $1.8 billion projected fiscal year 2009 dollars. In hearings before both House of Representatives and Senate committees, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and expert witnesses testified that the annual procurement rate of only one Virginia class boat – rising to two in 2012 – would result in excessive unit production costs, yet an insufficient complement of attack submarines.
The contract required the delivery of one submarine in each of fiscal 2009 and 2010, and two submarines on each of fiscal 2011, 2012, and 2013.
The main improvement over the Block III is the reduction of major maintenance periods from four to three, increasing each boat's total lifetime deployments by one. The long-lead-time materials contract for SSN-792 was awarded on 17 April 2012, with SSN-793 and SSN-794 following on 28 December 2012.
The CBO in its 2012 report states that 33 Virginia-class submarines will be procured in the 2013–2032 timeframe, resulting in 49 submarines in total since 16 were already procured by the end of 2012.
The contract required the delivery of one submarine in each of fiscal 2009 and 2010, and two submarines on each of fiscal 2011, 2012, and 2013.
In 2013, execution of this 10-submarine contract was put in doubt by budget sequestration in 2013.
The CBO in its 2012 report states that 33 Virginia-class submarines will be procured in the 2013–2032 timeframe, resulting in 49 submarines in total since 16 were already procured by the end of 2012.
The most costly shipbuilding contract in history was awarded on 28 April 2014 as prime contractor General Dynamics Electric Boat took on a $17.6 billion contract for ten Block IV Virginia-class attack submarines.
In addition, data provided in CBO reports tends to vary considerably compared to earlier editions. Block VI submarines include an organic ability to employ seabed warfare equipment. ==SSN(X)/Improved Virginia== Initially dubbed Future Attack Submarine and Improved Virginia class in Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports, the SSN(X) or Improved Virginia-class submarines will be an evolved version of the Virginia class. In late 2014, the Navy began early preparation work on the SSN(X).
In July 2016 General Dynamics was awarded $19 million for VPM development.
HII Newport News Shipbuilding was awarded a long-lead materials contract for two Block V boats in 2017, the first Block Vs for the company. On 2 December 2019, the Navy announced an order for nine new Virginia-class submarines – eight Block Vs and one Block IV – for a total contract price of $22 billion with an option for a tenth boat.
Construction on the first two boats of this block was expected to begin in 2019 but was pushed back to 2020, with contracts for long lead time material for SSN-802 and SSN-803 being awarded to General Dynamic's Electric Boat.
HII Newport News Shipbuilding was awarded a long-lead materials contract for two Block V boats in 2017, the first Block Vs for the company. On 2 December 2019, the Navy announced an order for nine new Virginia-class submarines – eight Block Vs and one Block IV – for a total contract price of $22 billion with an option for a tenth boat.
Navy added a 10th ship in Block V series of the Virginia-class attack submarine, issuing a $2.4 billion adjustment on a contract initially awarded in December 2019.
Construction on the first two boats of this block was expected to begin in 2019 but was pushed back to 2020, with contracts for long lead time material for SSN-802 and SSN-803 being awarded to General Dynamic's Electric Boat.
This would make the Block V the second-largest US submarine, behind only the Ohio-class (at 560 ft). On 22 March 2021, the U.S.
All text is taken from Wikipedia. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License .
Page generated on 2021-08-05