WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Electric Boat Corporation has received a $9 million US Navy contract to provide new modules for Virginia attack-class nuclear submarines, more than tripling their striking power with Tomahawk cruise missiles, the US Department of Defense said in a press release.
"Electric Boat Corporation [of] Groton, Connecticut was awarded a $9,285,000… contract for Virginia Payload Module tube insertion," the release stated on Thursday.
The new missile tubes, called the Virginia Payload Modules, will expand the submarines’ Tomahawk missile firing ability from 12 to 40 by adding an additional 28 payload tubes — more than tripling the offensive strike capability of the platforms current capability, according to published reports.
Work on the contact will be performed in Groton, Connecticut and is scheduled to be completed by April 2018, the Defense Department added.
