Image Credits: General Dynamics General Dynamics Electric Boat has received contracts worth $71.6 billion from the U.S. Navy to build 14 additional nuclear-powered submarines, including five Columbia-class submarines and nine Virginia-class submarines. The contracts are part of a $76.6 billion U.S. Navy award announced recently. The deal includes $29.5 billion for five additional Columbia-class submarines, $42.1 billion for nine additional Virginia-class submarines, and additional support for shipyard infrastructure. Electric Boat, a business unit of General Dynamics, designs, builds, repairs and modernises nuclear submarines for the U.S. Navy. The company said the latest contract modifications will help provide greater certainty for production planning, supplier demand and workforce expansion. “These important contract modifications provide Electric Boat and our suppliers with the demand certainty we need to continue investing in capacity and hiring the workforce necessary to ensure we deliver these important national security assets on schedule,” Mark Rayha, president of General Dynamics Electric Boat, said. Details of the contract modifications were included in the U.S. Department of War contract award announcements. The additional funding will support Electric Boat’s shipyard infrastructure and continued investment in production capacity. The company said it will also support hiring efforts needed to maintain submarine construction schedules. General Dynamics Electric Boat is headquartered in Groton, Connecticut, and employs more than 27,000 people. The company is responsible for designing, building, repairing and modernising nuclear submarines for the U.S. Navy. The latest contracts cover additional vessels under the Columbia-class and Virginia-class submarine programmes, along with infrastructure support linked to ship construction. General Dynamics, the parent company of Electric Boat, is headquartered in Reston, Virginia. It operates across sever