Why GD’s Electric Boat Is A Pivotal Player In U.S. Security Plans

The U.S. defense industry is populated by many thousands of companies, but only a handful of sites are responsible for the design and integration of complex weapons systems.

These include such well-known facilities as Lockheed Martin’s
LMT
mile-long F-35 fighter plant in Fort Worth, and the sprawling Raytheon missile complex in Tucson.

One of the most enduring and critically important industrial sites in the entire defense sector is Electric Boat, the Connecticut-based business unit of General Dynamics that has been building submarines for over a hundred years. GD contributes to my think tank.

You don’t hear much about Electric Boat in national media, in part because much of its work is highly classified and in part because it seldom makes the kind of missteps that bring media attention.

However, “EB,” as it is commonly known, has become increasingly central to U.S. security plans as the focus of national security planning has shifted from the global war on terror to great-power competition.

EB’s role as the world’s premier builder of nuclear-powered submarines has a special significance in the emerging security landscape, thanks to several trends:

• First, China is making a bid for regional military dominance in Asia, and its military aspirations will be expressed mainly in the form of sea power.
• Second, the Ukraine war has signaled Russia’s aggressive intentions without in any way diminishing the maritime threat it poses to other nations—particularly the undersea threat.
• Third, the proliferation of long-range antiship missiles has greatly increased the danger posed to America’s fleet of surface warships.

EB’s submarines are uniquely suited to the emerging threat environment, because their nuclear power provides unlimited range and endurance at sea, while their stealth features when submerged put them beyond the reach of the rivals challenging other aspects of American military power.

For example, a Virginia-class fast attack submarine can operate freely in the Chinese littoral, collecting intelligence and tracking hostile shipping with minimal risk of being detected by Beijing’s military forces.

The same class of subs is the most effective tool the U.S. Navy has for countering Russia’s growing naval presence in the North Atlantic, providing antisubmarine capabilities unmatched by any other warship in the world.

One sign of how important EB’s products have become to U.S. security planning was the disclosure earlier this month that Australia would be permitted to buy 3-5 Virginia-class attack subs as it transitions to an indigenously-produced sub as part of a tripartite security arrangement with the U.S. and Britain to counter Beijing’s moves in the Pacific.

This development, among others, underscores that of all the defense-industrial operations sustained by the Pentagon, Electric Boat is the closest thing to a safe bet for the next several decades. America must have the warships EB builds, and no other shipbuilder at home or abroad comes close to matching EB’s proficiency in designing, engineering, integrating and sustaining them.

Electric Boat shares its submarine construction responsibilities with HII’s
HII
Newport News shipyard in Virgina—the nation’s only other nuclear shipbuilding complex—but HII builds a diverse assortment of warships. EB builds only submarines, and it typically is both the lead design yard and prime contractor on each new class of subs.

Nuclear-powered submarines are among the most complex industrial systems ever devised, requiring the integration of hundreds of thousands of parts in a finished product which must operate for decades under the most challenging circumstances. There is no margin for error.

Simply managing the material procurement and supply-chain relationships supporting timely submarine production is a herculean task.

A case in point is the Columbia class of ballistic-missile submarines, all 12 of which will be assembled at EB’s Groton shipyard using hull sections fabricated at EBs’ site in Quonset Point, Rhode Island.

Columbia will replace the aging Ohio class of ballistic-missile subs beginning in 2031, and is destined to host a majority of the long-range nuclear warheads in the U.S. strategic deterrent. Each of its 16 missile tubes will contain a D5 missile capable of lofting up to 14 independently-targetable warheads to a distance of 7,500 miles, and then hitting with 100 yards of the intended target.

Unlike the multirole Virgina class, the Columbia class will have only one mission: deterring nuclear attack against the United States and its allies. Because it is the only segment of the nation’s nuclear “triad” that can be concealed against a surprise attack, it provides the backbone of the nuclear deterrent, in a way that land-based ICBMs and bombers cannot.

But to successfully accomplish its mission, the Columbia class must remain invisible to potential attackers through 2085, even though it will have an undersea displacement of 20,000 tons—far bigger than most other warships (the boat will be nearly two football fields long).

Moreover, it will need to spend its entire service life, averaging 42 years, without ever requiring a nuclear refueling. Being able to avoid a costly mid-life refueling will increase the amount of time each Columbia-class boat can remain on station, which is why only a dozen are required to replace the 14 Ohio-class subs.

The Navy regards the Columbia class as its top acquisition priority, bar none. But the Virginia class of attack subs is also a top priority, even though it likely will never host nuclear weapons.

The 2024 defense budget will authorize the first boat that incorporates a “Virginia Payload Module,” an 84-foot extension of the sub’s midsection designed to accommodate 28 cruise missiles—effectively tripling the submarine’s land-attack capability.

That modification will increase the displacement of Virginia-class subs from 7,830 tons to 10,170 tons. When combined with advanced sensors, a sophisticated torpedoes and propulsors for silently propelling the sub through water, the latest “Block V” Virgina-class will be by far the most formidable attack sub in the world.

It isn’t likely that any other shipbuilder in the world could build either the Columbia class or Virginia class to the required tolerances. Electric Boat working with HII is a unique team, a genuinely world-class operation.

One reason you don’t hear much about them is that when an organization does everything right, there just isn’t much to report. But without EB, America’s defenses for the future would be far less resilient.

As noted above, Electric Boat parent General Dynamics contributes to my think tank.