Electric Boat faces challenges as sub work ramps up

WASHINGTON — Earlier this month, Electric Boat broke ground on the centerpiece of the company’s expansion plan in preparation for the construction of a new line of submarines.

But a new Congressional Research Service report shows there are continued concerns about EB’s abilities to build the new Columbiaclass ballistic missile submarine alongside the smaller Virginiaclass attack submarines that have for nearly 20 years been the mainstay of that shipyard.

The report also cited a number of other problems in the construction of submarines by Electric Boat and its partner, Virginia’s Newport News Shipbuilding.

One is the result of a big change in the Virginiaclass submarine program.

The Navy plans for Electric Boat and Newport News to continue to build two of these submarines a year, and three of them in 2023. The Virginiaclass attack submarine was designed to be less expensive and better optimized for postCold War missions than older fleets of U.S. subs.

But the Navy wants to boost the attack power of the Virginiaclass boat. The next block of subs will be larger, adding dozens of missile tubes and about 85 feet to each of the new Virginia Payload Module (VMI) subs. The cost will also increase, from about $2.8 billion to roughly $3.2 billion for each submarine.

Last spring, Electric Boat and Newport News struggled to meet scheduled delivery times as the Virginiaclass program transitioned from production of two “regular” Virginiaclass boats per year to two VPMequipped boats per year.

“As a result of these challenges…the program has experienced monthslong delays in efforts to build boats relative to their targeted delivery dates,” the report said.

The shipbuilders have also had problems with design work and welding.

“Program officials said vendor quality issues with welding on VPM have caused a 3.5month delay in the schedule for the payload tubes for the first two submarines with VPM,” the report said.

Right now, Congress is struggling to pass a 2020 defense budget that would substantially boost the Navy’s budget for submarines. The CRS said “another issue for Congress concerns three Virginiaclass boats that were reported in 2016 to have been built with defective parts, and the operational and cost implications of this situation.”

Electric Boat declined to respond to concerns raised in the report, referring all questions to the Navy.

The Navy had no response to the issues raised in the report.

U.S. Senate demands answers

The U.S. Senate, in its draft 2020 defense spending bill, demanded the Navy submit a slew of reports on the Virginiaclass submarine program by October 1. Those include reports on the cost to repair the rubberlike quieting material that has started to peel off the hulls of the newer Virginiaclass subs.

But the bigger problem is staffing.

In 2021, construction of the massive, new Columbiaclass ballistic submarine will coincide with the continued construction of the Virginiaclass subs.

Once the Virginia Payload Module is added, Virginiaclass subs will require 25% more work. And the Columbia subs will require about 2.5 times more work than an original Virginia sub.

To prepare for the boost in construction, the workforce at Electric Boat’s shipyard in Quonset Point, R.I., where the Columbia is already in production, has been increased from about 2,000 workers a couple of years ago to roughly 4,250 today, on its way to about 6,000.

But Electric Boat’s facility in Groton is facing a dip in employment before it ramps up its production on the Columbia.

The shipyard’s planned overhaul of the USS Hartford will help ease the dip in employment, but a gap in 2023 remains.