Lawmakers, Navy, & Electric Boat Employees Celebrate New Contract, Production, & Jobs in Rhode Island

Press Release

After years of work in Congress, U.S. Senator Jack Reed, the Chairman of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower, joined with U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse; U.S. Representative James Langevin, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee; and U.S. Representative David Cicilline; along with Rear Admiral Kenneth M. Perry, the commander of Submarine Group Two, in gathering to salute the skill, craftsmanship, and effectiveness of Electric Boat employees and their contributions to our national security.

This week the Navy awarded a $17.6 billion multi-year contract to General Dynamics to build ten Virginia-class submarines. This Block IV agreement will help strengthen our nation's defense capabilities, is cost effective for taxpayers, and ensures a stable workload at the company's Electric Boat (EB) shipyard in Quonset Point for many years to come. The Block IV agreement includes ships beginning in fiscal year 2014 through fiscal year 2018.

Electric Boat's leaders and employees joined with members of the state's Congressional delegation and Navy leaders for a cake cutting and celebration of this milestone.

The current block of submarines measure about 377 feet long, can carry a crew of 138, and have stealth capabilities to launch Tomahawk cruise missiles, deliver special forces, and carry out surveillance on land and sea.

Electric Boat recently signed a new 25-year lease to remain at the Quonset Business Park in North Kingstown and plans to invest $150 million in upgrading its facilities in Rhode Island.

EB currently employs about 2,800 workers in Rhode Island and projects it will hire an additional 600 people this year and as many as 3,000 employees at Quonset by 2020 to help build submarines. EB employs almost 12,000 people in the region, including at facilities in Groton and New London, Connecticut.

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