With Russia's recent use of a hypersonic missile alarming U.S. military planners, Congress is putting more money into submarine power and by extension keeping General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard busy as it faces tight delivery windows for two major sub programs.
The National Defense Authorization Act passed by the U.S. House of Representatives included an expected increase in funding to support construction of a new fleet of ballistic missile submarines, and an unexpected boost for future attack submarine construction. Electric Boat has its main shipyard in Groton, an engineering office in New London, and an auxiliary shipyard in Rhode Island that barges components to Groton for final assembly.
The defense bill also includes a 14.5% increase in pay for junior enlisted members of the military, as service branches amp up recruiting to fill a gap in projected force numbers. About 14,500 active-duty service members were stationed in Connecticut at last report, the large majority in Groton at Naval Submarine Base New London.
U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-1st, was the lone member of Connecticut's Congressional delegation to vote against the bill in its current form. In response to a CT Insider query, Larson indicated he balked at an element that would ban insurance coverage for gender-affirming care for children in military families. Larson called it "a difficult vote" that ran counter to his support of defense spending bills in prior years.
"The NDAA contained important wins for our service members and Connecticut jobs," Larson stated in an email response forwarded by an office staff member. "It was shameful for Republican leadership to disrupt the bipartisan process of passing a defense authorization bill to insert a provision to ban gender affirming care for service members' children. Health care decisions need to be made by families and medical professionals, not politicians."
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, indicated he will vote in favor of the bill in its current form.
"I regret some of the provisions in the bill -- including limitations on health care for the families of military personnel -- and am talking to my colleagues about opportunities to change them," Blumenthal said in an email forwarded by staff.
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, declined comment on the bill in advance of an expected Senate vote sometime next week, according to a spokesperson in Murphy's office.
Columbia Sub a Priority
A CT Insider analysis of line items for major military systems made in Connecticut shows $35.6 billion in total spending, down slightly from $36 billion a year earlier, including for fighter jets that use engines from Pratt & Whitney based in East Hartford. Those figures do not include additional revenue from Connecticut-based companies that provide subsystems for installation in major Pentagon programs, which are not easily identifiable by line item.
At least $19.2 billion will support submarine construction at General Dynamics Electric Boat as well as the Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News shipyard in Virginia, or systems that go into new and existing submarines. That includes procurement of materials and systems for subs that will be assembled later, some supplied by companies based in other states.
While Congress is ordering one fewer Virginia-class sub amid ongoing struggles by Electric Boat and Newport News to obtain parts from suppliers who have experienced labor shortages since the COVID-19 pandemic, that is more than offset by an extra $3.8 billion for the new Columbia class of attack submarines.
U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd, supported the bill despite Congress eliminating one Virginia-class sub from the program. He serves as the ranking member of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee.
The program is getting an extra boost of $357 million to support the purchase of systems for future subs, which was not included in the Pentagon's original funding request. Last week, Electric Boat reported the successful completion of sea trials for the USS Iowa, the 24th sub in the Virginia-class fleet stationed currently at Naval Submarine Base New London, which is to be commissioned next spring.
The Navy is putting increased emphasis on submarine power as concerns grow over potential vulnerabilities of surface ships to drone or missile attacks. This fall, Russian forces fired a hypersonic missile at a Ukraine target that traveled more than 10 times the speed of sound, representing a formidable challenge for shipboard defense systems given the velocity and maneuverability of hypersonic missiles.
Missile Development, Fighter Jets
In the defense bill for fiscal 2025, Congress approved $2.1 billion for hypersonic missile development and procurement, with Lockheed Martin and Raytheon among the companies developing missiles.
Under the current version of the bill, Congress would authorize the purchase of 20 fewer F-35 Lighting II fighter jets from Lockheed Martin than the 68 aircraft the Department of Defense had requested.
The F-35 Lighting II uses the F135 jet engine made by Pratt & Whitney in East Hartford, with U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro stating the fiscal 2025 bill includes $537 million to support F135 upgrades by Pratt & Whitney.
The lower purchase volume is a setback for Pratt & Whitney and parent Raytheon, however, which have been scrambling since last year to complete a recall of commercial jet engines. The recall has forced airlines to ground planes for more than a year as engines are removed from wings for repair.
Another $2.1 billion is earmarked for 20 new CH-53K King Stallion cargo helicopters built in Stratford for the U.S. Marine Corps by the Sikorsky subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, and $707 million will go for two dozen Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters for the U.S. Army. Overall Black Hawk funding is down for the 2025 fiscal year due to the Army scrapping a program to modernize some of its older helicopters.
The bill cuts by $15 million the allocation for the Sikorsky Jolly Green II rescue helicopter for the U.S. Air Force, for a fiscal 2025 appropriation of just under $148 million.
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