General Dynamics Awarded $209 Million for Future Virginia-class Submarines

The U.S. Navy has awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a $208.6 million contract modification to buy long lead-time material for three Virginia-class submarines. Electric Boat is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD).

Recognized as a model defense-acquisition program for its technical excellence and schedule performance, the Virginia-class submarine program provides the Navy with the capabilities required to dominate both the open ocean and the littorals. In partnership with the Navy, Electric Boat is driving innovative cost-saving efforts, without impacting capabilities, through overall efficiency improvements, decreased ship-construction labors costs and shortened ship-construction cycle times.

As a result of this successful program performance and demand for the versatile capabilities of the Virginia-class submarine, the Navy authorized Electric Boat to start construction of two submarines per year beginning in 2011. This contract provides funding for the second fiscal year (FY) 14 Virginia-class submarine, SSN-793, and two FY 15 submarines, SSN-794 and SSN-795. Items funded include steam and electrical-plant components, main propulsion unit and ship-service turbine generator sets, and miscellaneous hull, mechanical and electrical-systems components to support construction of the submarines.

With this modification, the overall contract is worth $595 million. It was initially awarded in April 2012.

General Dynamics continues project to upgrade submarine electronics with COTS computers

U.S. Navy officials are asking General Dynamics Information Systems in Fairfax, Va., to continue a project that seeks to upgrade the combat systems aboard U.S. missile and fast-attack submarines with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) computers.

Officials of the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington announced a $29.7 million contract modification to General Dynamics Wednesday for engineering and technical services in support of the AN/BYG-1 tactical control system aboard submarines.

The AN/BYG-1 is an open-architecture submarine combat control system for analyzing and tracking submarine and surface ship contacts, providing situational awareness, as well as aiming and firing torpedoes and missiles.

The program replaces central processors with COTS computers, and seeks to refresh submarine combat system processors with new COTS technologies every one to two years. The AN/BYG system is a counterpart to the Navy's Advanced Rapid COTS Insertion (A-RCI) program that uses COTS computers in submarine sonar signal processing systems.

 Submarine crews equipped with the AN/BYG-1 combat control system are able to analyze submarine sensor contact information to track submarine and surface vessels in open-ocean and coastal waters; aim and fire heavyweight torpedoes against submarine and surface ship targets; receive strike warfare orders, plan strike missions and employ Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles; and receive and synthesize sensor data and external tactical intelligence to produce an integrated tactical picture for situational awareness.

The AN/BYG-1 program includes a combat control system for the Virginia class attack submarine, as well as a replacement combat control system backfit for Los Angeles- and Seawolf-class attack submarines and for the Ohio-class ballistic-missile and cruise-missile submarines. General Dynamics also provides the AN/BYG-1 system for Royal Australian Navy Collins-class attack submarines.

The program uses biannual software upgrades called advanced processor builds (APBs) and hardware upgrades called technology insertions (TIs). The Navy began installing the AN/BYG-1 APB-09 system on Virginia-class fast-attack submarines in 2010.

The contract modification announced Wednesday calls for General Dynamics to continue upgrading the AN/BYG-1 Tactical Control System from a Technology Insertion (TI-10) baseline to a TI-12, integrate APB-13, begin developing the TI-14 baselines in several different variants suitable to the different classes of submarines.

The AN/BYG-1 modernization program separates development of the tactical control system (TCS) and the weapons control system (WCS) to enable independent yet parallel development and certification, General Dynamics officials say. Each of these systems uses a variety of APB software algorithms developed by industry, government, and academia.

The TCS portion of BYG-1 integrates sensor inputs to provide a secure common operational picture and improved situational awareness that blends information sonar, electronic support measures, radar, navigation, periscopes, and communications systems. The TCS system architecture allows for rapid COTS insertion to accommodate and integrate additional functionality and sensors.

Previous system enhancements have included improved commanding officer situational awareness by sharing display information across subsystems, and changing some designs to manage and distribute important navigation data.

Some of the latest enhancements under the AN/BYG-1 program have included integration of unmanned air vehicle (UAV) command and control (C2), and upgrading high-definition displays.

One of the benefits of rapid COTS technology upgrades to submarine combat systems is the ability for the Navy to learn from real-world experience to make quick improvements. Recent Navy recommendations, for example, were to acquire automation technology to help the operator in areas of high contact density.

Navy officials also have recommended improving operator training, because many of the new features in the APB-07 upgrades that were designed to improve mission performance were not used consistently during testing.

On the current contract modification, General Dynamics will do the work in Fairfax, Va., and should be finished by July 2014. For more information contact General Dynamics Information Systems online at www.gd-ais.com, or Naval Sea Systems Command at www.navsea.navy.mil.

General Dynamics Awarded $100 Million by U.S. Navy for Virginia-class Submarine Work

General Dynamics Electric Boat has been awarded a $100.4 million contract modification by the U.S. Navy to provide lead-yard services for Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines. Electric Boat is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics.

Under the contract, Electric Boat will develop, maintain and update design drawings and data, including technology insertions, for each Virginia-class submarine throughout its construction and post-shakedown availability periods.

The contract has a potential cumulative value of $881 million through 2014 if all options are exercised and funded.

This work will engage Electric Boat’s engineering and design organization, which comprises more than 4,000 employees. Possessing proven technical capabilities, these employees work on all facets of the submarine lifecycle from concept formulation and design through construction, maintenance and modernization, and eventually to inactivation and disposal.

Newport News Shipbuilding and General Dynamics Electric Boat Exchange Submarine Modules

Two Virginia-class submarine modules were moved simultaneously for the first time Wednesday between Newport News Shipbuilding and General Dynamics Electric Boat's facilities in southern New England. The increased shipment capacity is in support of the U.S. Navy's two-submarines-per-year build r

The module that comprises the torpedo room for North Dakota (SSN 784) was loaded onto the sea shuttle, which is used for the two-plus-day voyage to Electric Boat's main shipyard in Groton, Conn. Right behind it was the module containing the auxiliary machine room (AMR) for John Warner (SSN 785), which is headed to Electric Boat's fabrication plant in Quonset Point, R.I. The AMR, which departed on a commercial barge, comprises machinery such as a back-up diesel generator, pumps, motors and other electrical equipment.

This use of the commercial barge also represented the first time two major modules were being moved simultaneously between Virginia and southern New England.

"These shipments represent the 99th and 100th barge shipments between Electric Boat and Newport News Shipbuilding," said Jim Hughes, NNS' vice president, Submarines and Fleet Support. "It's satisfying to see these units being exchanged at such a remarkable pace, and we look forward to turning the final products over to the U.S. Navy."

In addition to these 100 shipments, General Dynamics Electric Boat has made about 900 shipments between its Groton and Quonset Point facilities using its sea shuttle barge, said Kurt A. Hesch, Electric Boat's vice president for the Virginia program.

"Barge shipments help make modular construction possible," Hesch said. "Without this, heavy lift capability shipments would have to be much smaller, much more assembly would have to be done at the delivery yard, and there would be a corresponding loss of efficiency."

HII is teamed with Electric Boat, a business unit of General Dynamics, to build Virginia-class submarines. Using millions of parts from more than 4,000 suppliers in 50 states and the District of Columbia, the submarines incorporate dozens of new technologies and innovations and are the first major combatants designed with the post-Cold War security environment in mind.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) designs, builds and maintains nuclear and non-nuclear ships for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard and provides after-market services for military ships around the globe. For more than a century, HII has built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. Employing more than 37,000 in Virginia, Mississippi, Louisiana and California, its primary business divisions are Newport News Shipbuilding and Ingalls Shipbuilding.

General Dynamics NASSCO Completes First MLP Hull Ahead of Schedule

The shipbuilders of General Dynamics NASSCO have completed the structural assembly and weld-out of 26,241 metric tons of steel to erect the entire structure of the first Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) for the U.S. Navy. Construction of the ship is progressing on schedule and under budget, with delivery scheduled for the second quarter of 2013.

The final block for the first MLP ship, comprised of the ship’s exhaust stacks and weighing 277 short tons, was lifted onboard via crane and installed on August 17. The final structural welds were completed August 31 and inspected by the American Bureau of Shipping and the Navy. Work is continuing on outfitting and painting the ship in preparation for a November 13 undocking.

“The MLP is the beneficiary of the ship-construction lessons learned during the successful T-AKE Program and a concerted ‘Design for Producibility’ effort,” said Fred Harris, president of General Dynamics NASSCO. “With this ship, we have further reduced construction time and applied improvements that have increased the efficiency of our workforce.”

NASSCO is the sole designer of the MLP ships and has construction contracts to build three. Once delivered to the fleet, MLP ships will join the Maritime Prepositioning Force squadrons that are strategically located around the world to enable rapid response in a crisis. These ships will provide a “pier at sea” that will become the core of the Navy/Marine Corps sea basing concept. This capability will allow prepositioning ships to offload equipment and supplies to the MLP for transfer to shore by other vessels.

Through the T-AKE Program, NASSCO has produced 14 “Lewis and Clark” class dry cargo/ammunition ships. Construction of the first ship began in 2003, and the final ship is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy later this year. These ships provide logistic lift from sources of supply, either in port or at sea, and transfer cargo that includes ammunition, food, fuel, repair parts, and expendable supplies and material to station ships and other naval warfare forces at sea.

General Dynamics to Continue Migrating Submarine Combat Control Technology

General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems Incorporated, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, is being awarded $20,153,731 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract modification for continued migration of the AN/BYG-1 weapons control system from a technology insertion (TI) 10 baseline to a TI-12; integration of advanced processing build 11; and delivery of capability multiple submarine platforms. The AN/BYG-1 is the combat control system common across submarine platforms. The system incorporates tactical control, weapon control, and tactical local area network functions into a single development program. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.

General Dynamics to Supply Modernized Instrumentation Radars for U.S Army

With the aim to replace the currently used radar systems in the test ranges of the U.S. Army, a contract to manufacture and deploy a modernized variety of instrumentation radars has been awarded to a General Dynamics C4 Systems-led team. An overall potential value of $385 million within 10 years can be achieved by the Range Radar Replacement Program (RRRP) when all options are exercised.

The initial award of $29 million is allocated for funding toward manufacturing, development and engineering phases of the program. This amount will also be spent on integration and production of new radar systems at Yuma Test Center, Ariz; White Sands Test Center, N.M.; Redstone Test Center, Ala and Aberdeen Test Center, Md.

The President of General Dynamics C4 Systems, Chris Marzilli stated that the XSTAR instrumentation radars possess the ability to track 40 test objects in a simultaneous manner. The XSTAR instrumentation radars according to Marzilli reduce the delivering time of test-data and results with high-quality and provide accurate position, time and space information.

The General Dynamics C4 Systems-led team according to Marzilli has offered an extremely cost-effective combination of program management expertise, technologies and systems that are capable of fulfilling the Army’s goal of expanding test-related services and modernizing the radar systems.