BWX Technologies on Monday said it had secured a $76.2 million contract to produce more Common Missile Compartment (CMC) tube assemblies for next-generation U.S. and U.K. ballistic missile submarines.
This is the third contract the BWXT Nuclear Operations Group has received from Columbia-class vessel prime General Dynamics Electric Boat for the assemblies – the vertical tubes that carry submarine-launched ballistic missiles. It follows deals in November 2014 and March 2016, according to a BWXT press release.
A spokesman said BWXT is not disclosing the number of assemblies covered by the contracts, except to note that the company has received roughly 50 percent of all CMC tube assembly work contracted so far. Production under the latest deal is slated to wrap up in 2021.
In an earnings conference call earlier this year, BWXT CEO Rex Geveden emphasized the importance of missile tube production for both the Columbia-class submarine and existing Virginia-class attack vessels: “Missile tube manufacturing provides another avenue for organic growth in the Nuclear Operations business. We anticipate that at least 320 tubes will be built, split between the Virginia and Columbia classes, for a total market value potentially exceeding $1.5 billion over the next 15-to-20 years.”
BWXT expects to hire 120 additional workers at its Mount Vernon, Ind., facility to carry out the contracts, the release says. It is also renovating a 180,000-square-foot manufacturing plant at the location.
The missile tube assemblies will ultimately be deployed on the Columbia-class and U.K. Dreadnought-class ballistic missile vessels.
The announcement came less than a week after the Defense Department said it had issued a $95.6 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to Electric Boat’s existing contract for production of 17 tactical missile tubes for the Columbia-class submarines. That work should be finished in 2023.
“This is a joint U.S./United Kingdom Common Missile Compartment program and this modification includes foreign military sales to the United Kingdom,” the Pentagon said. “Work will be performed in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, and is expected to be completed by December 2023. United Kingdom foreign military sales funding in the amount of $22,957,933 will be obligated at the time of award. “
The Navy expects to deploy 12 Columbia-class submarines, with the lead vessel built by 2028. Each will carry 16 missile tubes.