The USS Gerald R. Ford is pushed by tug boats as the ship enters Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding to begin Post Shakedown Availability. Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Cat Campbell/U.S. Navy

Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Huntington Ingalls in Newport News, Va., has received a $104.2 million contract modification for engineering, technical, design, logistics, research and development, modernization and industrial services for nuclear submarines.

Work on the contract, announced Monday by the Department of Defense, will be performed in Newport News, Va., and is expected to be completed by September 2019. Navy fiscal 2018 procurement funding in the amount of $981,700 will be obligated at time of award.


Newport News is the primary nuclear shipyard used by the U.S. Navy, refitting nuclear powered aircraft carriers like the Nimitz and Gerald Ford classes.

The U.S. fields four types of nuclear submarines. These include the Los Angeles attack, Ohio ballistic missile, Sea Wolf attack and Virginia attack classes. The Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine will be coming online over the next decade.

The U.S. nuclear submarine fleet is the most extensive in the world, providing ship interdiction, conventional cruise missiles and nuclear ballistic missile support in a highly stealthy platform with long endurance and range.