WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls has delivered the Block III Virginia-Class attack submarine Washington to the Navy, the company said in a statement.
"Washington is the fourth of eight Virginia-class Block III submarines and the seventh of the class to be delivered to the Navy by Huntington Ingalls Industries/Newport News Shipbuilding," the statement said on Friday.
The submarines' redesigned bow replaces 12 individual launch tubes with two large-diameter tubes, each capable of launching six Tomahawk cruise missiles, the shipbuilder said.
Virginia-class submarines operate in the world's littoral and deep waters while conducting anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare, strike warfare, special operation forces support, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, the statement noted.
The Washington is the 14th Virginia-Attack Class submarine the Navy has accepted.
