Defense & National Security

“The sustained growth in hiring at Electric Boat is continuing to significantly boost the economy of our region and the entire state. As this morning’s presentation clearly showed, the pace of construction of Virginia-class submarines and the increasing work associated with the next critical phase in the Columbia-class program will continue the yard's strong hiring trend. This is not just good news for EB and southeastern Connecticut because work at the shipyard is supported by a state-wide network of nearly 500 small parts suppliers and precision manufacturing firms that are growing along with the company. Even more exciting, the Navy’s new force structure plan that calls for more submarines provides additional opportunity for growth in the years ahead."

“Achieving this milestone is no small feat for a large program like this one - and it represents years of hard work by many people, especially the men and women of Electric Boat,” Courtney said. “For eastern Connecticut, today’s news underscores the positive outlook for hiring and growth across the submarine industrial base in our region. It is also, however, really just the beginning of the hard work ahead in designing and building this submarine within the already tight timeline we face. I know that the hardworking men and women in the Navy, in industry in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Virginia, and in countless machine shops across the country, are up to the task – and today’s decision is a vote of confidence in their efforts."

"Any suggestion that there is a substitute for the F-35 is total non-starter. This is a program that has been vetted ad nauseum by the Pentagon, the Congress and independent experts. There is simply no aircraft in production today that can compare with the F-35’s advanced avionics, networked capabilities and integrated stealth," said the members.

"The decision to name new ballistic missile submarine after our Nation’s Capital is the highest compliment that the Navy can bestow on this critical program. The USS Columbia and the rest of the submarines in the class will patrol the seas until the 2080s in silent but critical service to our nation’s defense, and will carry with it the history of the shipyard that launched the ‘Forty-One For Freedom’ original class of ballistic submarines starting in 1957,” said Courtney. “Designation of the first submarine is another milestone that affirms the hard work of thousands of workers in southeastern Connecticut to replace the aging Ohio-class submarines. Hardworking men and women at Electric Boat and the hundreds of suppliers across our state have already been hard at work for years to support this program, and remain committed to ensuring its success. Southeastern Connecticut is ready to take on this task which the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral John Richardson has called ‘foundational to Americas national security’."