Virginia-class attack submarines, Block IV: ~$20.2B cumulative — a long-running Electric Boat contract (USAspending)
A Navy (NAVSEA) contract with Electric Boat, the General Dynamics submarine builder. It began in 2012 as long-lead-time material for SSN-792 (Vermont, the first Block IV boat) and grew into Block IV construction, accumulating about $20.2 billion ($20,183,699,820) with performance through 2027 — a textbook example of the Navy's "block buy" approach to submarines.
Contract key facts
- RecipientGeneral Dynamics
- Contract value$20,212,290,145 (≈$20.21B)
- BranchNavy
- Awarding agencyDepartment of Defense
- Awarding sub-agencyDepartment of the Navy
- Award typeDEFINITIVE CONTRACT
- Period of performance2012-04-13 〜 2027-08-01
- Contract ID (PIID)N0002412C2115
The amount cited in the write-up ($20,183,699,820) is the figure at the time of writing. After later modifications the record now shows $20,212,290,145 (the details above are current).
Contract scope (original)
SSN 792 LONG LEAD TIME MATERIAL
Key points
- A Virginia-class attack submarine contract — began April 2012 as long-lead-time material for SSN-792 (Vermont, first Block IV boat), per the primary record
- Awarded by Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) to Electric Boat (General Dynamics)
- Cumulative ~$20.2B ($20,183,699,820; multi-year), performance through August 2027
- Grew via modifications into the Block IV (10-boat) construction vehicle — the Navy's standard "long-lead first, construction by modification" pattern
- Block buying lowers per-boat cost and sustains the submarine industrial base
- Ten hulls were added to a long-lead contract as a modification two years later, taking the cumulative figure to another order.
1The Virginia class built in blocks
The Virginia class is the U.S. Navy's mainstay post-Cold War attack submarine, procured several boats at a time in multi-year "blocks." Buying in blocks allows bulk ordering of components and steady production, lowering per-boat cost. This contract corresponds to Block IV (10 boats), built under the established workshare between Electric Boat and Newport News Shipbuilding.
2How a contract grows from long-lead material
What is most instructive is how the contract grew. It began as a vehicle to secure long-lead-time material — reactor components and other items that take years from order to delivery — for the first boat, and two years later the construction of all ten boats was added as a modification to the same contract.
This two-step pattern — a long-lead contract first, construction added by modification — is standard in major Navy shipbuilding, and the record is a textbook case of how a USAspending cumulative total can grow by orders of magnitude from the initial award.
3A skill base only two yards can hold
Submarine construction is a field where only two U.S. yards possess the skills, and preserving that industrial base is itself treated as a national-security problem. Stable block-buy ordering doubles as industrial policy, sustaining skilled workers and the supplier network. With later blocks and the next-generation Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarine now overlapping, shipyard capacity has become a live policy issue.
4A contract does not end at the amount it started with
What deserves attention here is how the amount grew. It began as a contract securing long-lead material such as the reactor components for the first hull, and the construction itself was added on top later.
- 1Secure long-lead materialReactor components and the like for the first hull, taking years to deliver, are locked in first
- 2Add construction two years laterTen hulls enter not as a new contract but as a modification to the same one
- 3The cumulative figure grows by ordersThe amount first awarded and the total in the record end up at entirely different levels
- 4Only the total remainsWhen, and by how much, it accumulated cannot be read from the record
For major US Navy shipbuilding this two-step — a long-lead contract first, construction added by modification — is the standard shape. Submarine construction is a field where sustaining a skill only two firms in the country hold is itself treated as a security question, and block buying carries the character of industrial policy sustaining skilled labour and the supply chain.
Why it matters
A primary-source view of the Navy's shipbuilding pattern (long-lead material → construction added on; block buys). Useful for readers following the defense industry, shipbuilding, and supply chains — and a good example of how to read USAspending totals that grow year after year. Read alongside General Dynamics' company profile and the defense rankings.
FAQ
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Sources (primary)
This article is an independent organization based on the U.S. official spending data below. Verify the exact, latest details with the official source.
- USAspending (award details)
- Contract ID (PIID)：N0002412C2115