They can operate at underwater speeds of more than 25 knots, dive more than 800 feet and stay submerged for up to three months at a time. The submarines are 377 feet long and have a beam of 34 feet. The contract calls for construction of one submarine in each of the years 20, and two per year from 2011 to 2013. Ten of the vessels have been delivered or were already under contract before a December award of a $14 billion contract for eight more of the submarines, according to Bloomberg News. The Virginia class is ultimately expected to total 30 vessels. Northrop Grumman is producing the Virginia-class submarines in a teaming arrangement with General Dynamics Electric Boat. The bulk of the work was non-reactor servicing, and that will continue with the Virginia subs, he said. "It's a very smooth transition," Thomas said, adding that the workload should mean an increase to about 4,400 shipyard workers by 2013. Gregory Thomas, who commands the shipyard, yesterday said the switch to Virginia-class work "keeps us focused on what's been our principal product here for the past 10 years - which is submarines." The Virginia-class arrival is good news for Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, the state's largest industrial employer, with 4,200 civilian workers.Ībout 90 percent of the yard's work has been on the aging Los Angeles-class attack submarines, including maintenance as well as nuclear reactor refueling and defuelings.Ĭapt. The new Virginia class will replace existing Los Angeles-class submarines as the older class reaches the end of its lifespan, he said. The overall number of attack submarines at Pearl Harbor - about 15 - will not change, Gureck said. You want to put them where you have critical mass." "It's just from a parts standpoint and maintenance standpoint, you don't want to put a couple Virginias in all the locations. "The initial (Virginia-class) homeporting will indeed be at Groton and Pearl Harbor, but eventually they will be everywhere we currently have Los Angeles-class (subs)," Gureck said. The 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review, a 20-year planning roadmap for the military, called for 60 percent of attack submarines to be based in the Pacific and 40 percent in the Atlantic. At least four that are in active service have operated temporarily out of the East Coast. Pacific Fleet, said Virginia-class submarines initially will be homeported in Groton, Conn., and at Pearl Harbor. The Navy revealed the Virginia-class submarine distribution information yesterday at an annual military update for the Hawai'i business community.Ĭapt. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, previously has said the USS North Carolina also will be homeported here. The Navy isn't releasing the exact number or arrival schedule for subs coming to Pearl Harbor beyond the USS Hawaii, expected in late June, and the USS Texas, scheduled to arrive in late October or early November. The Navy plans to build 30 of the nuclear submarines, which cost up to $2.5 billion apiece, carry torpedoes and missiles, and can drop off commandos close to shore. Two-thirds of the Navy's new Virginia-class submarines initially will be based at Pearl Harbor, making Hawai'i the main hub for the advanced attack submarines, Navy officials said yesterday. Virginia-class vessels likely to mean hiring hundreds more workersīy William Cole, Advertiser Military Writer Hawaii's Pearl Harbor To Become Hub For New Nuclear Subs
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