Electric Boat Delivers First Virginia Payload Tube

By Richard R. Burgess, Managing Editor

General Dynamic's Electric Boat has delivered the first payload tube for the Block III of the Virginia-class attack submarine program, said John D. Holmander, the company's vice president for the Virginia program, at the Sea-Air-Space Exposition May 4.

The payload tube is a major component of the redesigned bow section for the Block III. It is designed to house six Tomahawk cruise missiles in a Multiple All-Up Round Cannister (MAC) and replaces the individual vertical launch tubes of Blocks I and II boats. The tube is a key component of the Navy's effort to reduce the cost of the Virginia class to allow the service to afford the acquisition of two boats per year. The tube also is designed to launch and recover future unmanned systems and other payloads, greatly expanding the versatility of the submarine.

Electric Boat delivered the first tube to Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding's Newport News shipyard in Virginia on April 29. Two such tubes will be installed in June on the first Block III boat, the North Dakota.

Capt. Mike Jabely, the Navy's Virginia program manager, said that operational test and evaluation of the lead boat of the class, USS Virginia, was completed in March and the boat is now available for full-length deployments.

The completion of the evaluation "puts [the Virginia class] on track for a Milestone 3 decision later this year," he said.