GROTON, Conn. – 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.

More information about General Dynamics is available at www.generaldynamics.com.