BAE Systems has received a contract to produce payload tubes for two of the U.S. Navy’s new Virginia class submarines to support increased firepower on the Block V version of the attack subs.
Under the contract with General Dynamics Electric Boat, a builder of the Virginia class, BAE Systems will deliver two sets, each consisting of four tubes, for the Virginia Payload Modules on the SSN 804 and SSN 805.
The Virginia Payload Module (VPM) extends the length of the Block V submarines over previous versions of the Virginia-class by adding an additional mid-body section to create more payload space for greater firepower. Each large-diameter payload tube can store and launch up to seven Tomahawk cruise missiles. The VPM offers exceptional flexibility as well for the integration of future payload types, such as unmanned systems or next-generation weapons.
“The Virginia Payload Module is critical to the Navy’s undersea presence,” said Joe Senftle, vice president and general manager of Weapon Systems at BAE Systems.
“With the VPM, the Navy is adding significant capability to the Virginia-class by increasing the firepower of these subs and tripling their payload capacity.”
BAE Systems, which is also providing payload tubes for the SSN 803 under a previously awarded VPM contract, has a long history of supporting the Navy’s submarine fleet as the leading provider of propulsors and other submarine systems. The company was selected to provide propulsors, spare hardware, and tailcones for Block IV Virginia-class vessels and stands ready to provide the same support for the Block V subs.
Under this most recent contract, BAE Systems will also develop the processes and tooling necessary for the Block V payload tube production. Work will be performed at the company’s facility in Louisville, Kentucky, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2020.
Recent US Navy contracts for BAE is good news, long may it continue. Let us hope that current trade issue with the US doesn’t begin to muddy the waters? One line of thinking, if the trade problems escalate how then can the current union with Nato avoid any animosity penetrating that organization? I felt last year’s Nato summit was the beginning of a difficult period between the US and fellow members. Sniggering and nudging did not go unnoticed by Trump and his officials! Trump is a man who gets what he wants, or if he fails, he’ll make life very… Read more »
The issue is that Trump is used to bullying his way in the business world. He is not in the business world as president and he will find that people react very differently. Most leaders are merely humouring him until his term is over and he is quickly voted out and replaced by at least a partially sane individual again.
You do know he will get another term, don’t you? He’s so popular with the working vote that it’s an almost certainty! If so, a lot of nations are going to get burnt whilst they humour him.
Lee1 The issue there is in America until very recently (the 90s) Americans have had a very transactional (read business view of both politics and diplomacy). Based on both ability to keep your word and loyalty. This means you promise something you either deliver or you better damn well look like your trying. You promise to crack the whip over NAFTA to your voters you do it. You promise to move a embassy you do it. You say the EU and China are srcewing over the American worker and your going to do something about it. You do something about… Read more »
You’re**
16th line down.
You must brush up on your Queens English Elliot.
(Chris H) Elliott – You argue that Americans are all for keeping their word and delivering? So how do you explain your Head of State reneging on the NAFTA Treaty, walking away from the Iran Treaty, imposing illegal Tariffs on imports in contravention of WTO Rules and then fabricating that steel from the UK that goes directly into US military equipment by BAE is a threat to ‘National Security’. And when your country acts illegally as it tried to do over Bombardier and piss off the leaders of other countries don’t get all precious when they treat your Head of… Read more »
1. Tariffs fall fully under his remit as head of the Executive branch barring a special legislative action. As the power to raise on trade so long as they do not conflict with existing US law was delegated to the President by Congress. Therefore while against what other countries consider the rules. The Constitution is clear not illegal. The WTO can vent it’s spleen form sun up till sun down. That would not change the fact it is more like getting a gold star versus not getting one in kindergarten as far as the US legal system is concerned. 2.… Read more »
(Chris H) Elliott – You really do prove my points every time: * No country can just place selective tariffs on other countries under WTO Rules. Its either everyone or no one. Now – I do understand that Trump (and the USA when it suits her) ignores the rules based way of doing business whenever it suits them but that does not make it legal let alone right. * Vietnam was a war that the USA had no right in which to be involved. Of course we all know why – You idiots believed there were Commies under your beds… Read more »
1. Petitioned by the government of South Vietnam for intervention. Attacked by the government of North Vietnam at the Gulf of Tonkin. A war to stop the encroachment communism. Which both the US and UK were in a Alliance to stop. Apparently only the United States, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand stood by their word. 2. The United States is not and never has been and never has been and by the Grace of God in the habit of asking Britain for permission. We ended that sycophantic affectation over 230yrs ago. A Castro supported revolution seizes Americans and uses them… Read more »
Trouble is Elliot this delivers short term comfort but does not achieve his own long term objectives. The climate question, Israeli embassy, trade wars, whatever, will only come home to roost later on down the line. Increasing the price of steel and aluminium to American industry won’t restart American steel or aluminium smelters but will instead punish other American industries and jobs. The thing to do is to accept the inevitable consequences of globalisation, work with your trading partners and move on to occupy a different place in the world industrial and trading order. Trouble with that is that it… Read more »
Elliot really does live in his own bubble rewriting history as he goes along. Granada is not in our Hemisphere, so not our business and yet apparently Vietnam or indeed the Middle East is in the US hemisphere. We know Americans have little understanding of Geography but that truly is beyond fantasy. And as the Vietnam war has been brought up one thing I am exceptionally proud of is not taking part in the pointless long running military defeat that that achieved nothing other than costing lives on a commercial scale for no reason and generating long running animosity in… Read more »
Some context is needed, this is the American bit of BAE Systems that has won the contract.
Over the last couple of decades BAE Systems has purchased a large proportion of the US defence industry.
Fedaykin, surely like all multinational companies a percentage always filters back into the home nation’s coffers?
No, only to the BAES shareholders, most of which I believe are not British (but I may be wrong on the exact shareholding). In fact today, BAES is more of a US company than U.K. company. It operates under a SSA arrangement which means they have a separate US board and none of the technology developed by the company in the US is exportable or available to the U.K. without express DoD and State Department approvals.
56.02% foreign shareholding at 29-May 2018. BAE publish a web page that tracks it and also has a lot of historical data here: https://investors.baesystems.com/shareholder-information/foreign-shareholding/2018 It bounces about from month to month because it is listed and hence easily tradable on both London and New York stock exchanges so Joe & Jane public pretty much anywhere in the world can buy and sell it with it being particularly convenient for even individual investors like me in the UK & US. Disclaimer – I have a fairly decent chunk of BAE in my investment portfolio because defence is a lucrative business. It… Read more »
(Chris H) Maurice10 – I agree with you that Trump is a maverick and wild card in diplomacy. Well basically he doesn’t ‘do’ Diplomacy. I had an open mind when he was elected but as he has grown into the job he has made some very stupid decisions (in International peace and trade terms). Of course Americans being what they are they don’t care as they think the USA is ‘the World’. So he will get re-elected and we have to put up with his shit for another 6 years. Deep Joy! I think when you read and watch this… Read more »
The US people’s knowledge and awareness of the rest of the World are very poor in comparison with other nations consciousness of global events.
Trump’s modus operandi is to dived and rule; and he is not a rare exponent of the management practice, as I too have experienced such behavior whilst working in the US.
In regards to the UK and US relations, it needs to play a steady game as it could lose considerably more than the rest of Europe. Some may argue, that Trump’s current policy on trade could actually play into the UK hands with regard to Brexit negotiations? Unless there is a reaffirmation of US commitments to the West both in monetary and military terms, then Brexit may have to take up less of the EU’s diary. In that case, Mrs. May will need to play her hand very carefully.
Indeed which is why I guess she has been laying low of late and hoping that no one puts her on the spot in her relations between Europe and Canada on one side and the US on the other. It looks weak but sadly it is a pre requisite for the UK at present.
All of this progress will come to naught if we keep allowing THIS kind of thing to occur…
https://news.usni.org/2018/06/08/china-stolen-vast-amounts-navy-submarine-missile-data-multiple-breaches-contractors-servers
Stupidity….
Cheer.
Yes Helions. It is in our press as well. Very demoralising…
(Chris H) Had to smile at Elliott’s characterisation of a British Prime Minister: “Examples Theresa May coming across as a lecturing school mistress” No sources, no links and no facts just an out of the blue comment probably copied from Fox News or Trump’s Tweeting. The same Tweeting that had the whole of the UK as a no go Muslim dominated country and half of us were knifing the other half. When your Head of State is as clueless and ill-informed as this its quite possible he mistakes beautifully spoken English (our language by the way) for ‘lecturing’. Daft thing… Read more »
Completely agree with your sentiments Chris, but unfortunately not possible. Since the fallout over Suez, Britain has chosen to be inextricably linked and dependent on the US for its Defence and Security postures. We cannot now extricate ourselves at short notice. It wouldn’t work and anyway would be prohibitively expensive. Not to mention we’d end up cutting off our noses despite our faces in the process. France post Suez decided to go a different route although now even they are working more and more closely with the US. It simply isn’t possible to be part of a Western Alliance and… Read more »
(Chris H) Richard – Well maybe Trump is the catalyst for a change in our military policy. We have no need to be the biggest and we will never have any need to attack anybody (democracies tend to not start wars – the USA being the exception) so basically we just need to defend ourselves and maybe create mutually beneficial liaisons with like minded nations. Like Canada, Australia and yes even the French if necessary. You correctly note we have become dependent on ONE nation for our defence procurement of big ticket items and its almost like the default assumption… Read more »
Difficult one Chris. Part of me really sympathises with your posture. Indeed, having been involved with many collaborative programmes working for BAES, Augusta-Westland and Airbus, my experience is only of working with European partners and competing against American manufacturers in the world stage. I also witnessed both the KC-45 (ne Voyager) winning the tanker competition and the VH-71 Kestrel (ne Merlin) win the Marine One competition, only to be overturned by US vested interests and rigged for Boeing and Sikorsky to win the re-runs. So I’m no fan of America, particularly under this dangerous clown. But just as it will… Read more »
I think I sit where both of you do, sick to death of Trump’s antics and wish we could build more of our own defence assets but it takes time to turn a supertanker and there are so many contracts already awarded and the complexity of developing or negotiating alternatives so significant that I suspect if we did do it we would have many, many more capability gaps to moan about over the next decade as we shifted course. Israel is interesting though. Huge US support and tie in yet it has a flourishing home-grown defence industry. I’m not sure… Read more »
Exactly there has always been this love/hate relationship with Americans (and indeed America) with different sets of Americans having black and white views positive/negative often depending upon their history (or that contrived version in American history books) and often within the minds of of Americans themselves who flow with the wind depending upon the erratic nature of US media or events. I think this is why this nebulous concept of special relationship is so important to politicians American national opinion is so unreliable and unpredictable on the subject of relations that they really don’t have with other countries. But one… Read more »
A fascinating conversation guys, the increasingly isolationist attitude of the US is deeply worrying and strongly remanistant of the US international position of the 1930’s.
We can only hope the world economy survives MrTrumps tenure!
The language used against the Canadian PM absolutly beggers belief quite frankly, the man’s an embarrassment.
(Chris H) John Clark – Your last sentence perfectly describes why we as the lead country of the Commonwealth should be distancing ourselves from this US Administration. We should certainly not be continuing with his visit to the UK in July. Is a man who welcomes a murderous dictator, shakes his hand, signs a treaty with him and abandons his long term allies South Korea and Japan while abusing his long term allies in NATO be made welcome here? he has every right to follow his own policies in whatever style he chooses. But we don’t have to like it… Read more »