Groton, CT – A massive bow section arrived at General Dynamics โElectric Boat’s Groton shipyard today, marking a meaningful step in the construction of the future USS District of columbia, the first submarine in the Navy’s new Columbia class. The delivery is a key milestone as the โcompany โฃworks toward completingโค the $16.1 billion ballistic missile submarine by 2029.
the Columbia-class submarines are designed to replaceโ theโค Navy’s aging Ohio-class ballistic missileโ submarines, โคbuilt in Groton between 1976โ and 1997.โข Twelve columbia-class subs are plannedโ in โtotal.
Electric Boat โคis heavilyโข investing in infrastructure to supportโค the program.This month, the company purchased the Crystal Mall in Waterford, with plans to transform it into an engineering center โcapable of housing up to โค5,000 employees.
The District of columbia is being constructed in collaboration with Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), wich is building both bow and stern modules at its Newport news Shipbuilding plant in Virginia. The stern section arrived in Groton in 2023 aboard the barge Holland, the same vesselโค that delivered the bow module.
Company officials have described progress on the lead submarine in 2026 as “pivotal” to the overall program. โคThe District of โขColumbia will ultimately replace the USS Henry M. Jackson,an Ohio-class submarine commissioned in 1984.
Currently, Electric Boat and Newport News are concurrently building the future USS Wisconsin, projected toโ cost $10.7 billion, according to the Congressional Research Service. โคThe third submarineโ in the class, the USS โค Groton, โคis estimated at $10.5 billion.
The Pentagon recently approved $2.3โ billion in โfunding for parts for the โfifth Columbia-class submarine, which remains unnamed. The entire Columbia-class fleet is projected to cost at least $126.5 billion,accordingโฃ to the Government Accountability Office.
Supporting the construction, Bollinger Shipyards christenedโค the 618-foot floating dry dock Atlas last month. This dryโ dock โwill be used to launch the Columbia-class submarines into the Thames โขRiver and for future fleet maintenance.
Electric Boat and Newport Newsโ also collaborate on the construction โขof Virginia-class attack submarines, which feature cruise missile launch capabilities. HII Newport News โขrecently delivered theโฃ newest Virginia-class sub,theโ USS Massachusetts,to the Navy,with Electric โคBoat having โขcontributed modules for assembly. The USS Massachusetts will be christened next โฃyear in Boston.
(Includes prior reporting by Luther Turmelle.)