General Dynamics (GD) Electric Boat has been awarded a modification contract by the US Navy to plan and conduct maintenance and modernisation related activities in support of the Los Angeles-class submarine, USS Hartford (SSN-768).
Under the $9.5m firm-fixed-priced modification contract, Electric Boat will perform dry-docking selected restricted availabilities (DSRA) in order to maintain full unrestricted operation of the submarine.
The original contract includes options and has a total potential value of $67m, and was awarded to the company in April 2012.
In order to ensure the submarine operates at full technical capacity, the company will carry out maintenance work, upgrades and modernisation related support work as part of the contract.
The US Navy’s Los Angeles-class submarines have been designed to support missions, such as anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, show-of-force and strike missions, as well as mining and search-and-rescue operations.
Powered by a 26MW GE PWR S6G nuclear-pressure water reactor, the submarines are armed with the land-attack and anti-ship version of the Tomahawk missile and Harpoon anti-ship missiles.
Additional weaponry of the Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics Electric Boat-built submarine includes 533mm torpedo tubes and Mk117 torpedo fire control systems, as well as Mobile Mk67 and Captor Mk60 mines.
In addition to AN/ WLY-1 acoustic interception and countermeasures system, the Los Angeles-class submarines are integrated with Sperry Marine BPS 15 A/16 surface search, navigation and fire control radar.
Scheduled to be complete by September this year, work under the latest contract will be carried out in Groton, Connecticut and in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, US.
The US Naval Sea Systems Command will serve as the contracting activity.
The company is also under contract to perform similar work on another submarine of the same class, USS Toledo (SSN-769).
Image: USS Hartford sailing at sea. Photo: courtesy of US Navy, by Lt jg Jeffrey Prunera/Released.
