Leonardo DRS has secured contracts worth over $3 billion to supply integrated electric propulsion system products for the U.S. Navy’s new Columbia-class submarines. This deal was finalized in collaboration with General Dynamics Electric Boat and the U.S. Navy.
The contract involves designing and manufacturing key propulsion system components, including the permanent magnet main propulsion electric motor, motor drives, switchgear, and propulsion controls. These components are critical to the primary propulsion system of the next-generation ballistic missile submarine fleet. The prototype components have successfully undergone full power endurance and other tests at a U.S. Navy land-based facility.
Leonardo DRS CEO Bill Lynn expressed pride in the company’s role in supplying state-of-the-art electric propulsion components for the Columbia-class program. Jon Miller, senior vice president and general manager of Leonardo DRS Naval Power Systems, reiterated the company’s commitment to this strategic partnership.
The Columbia-class, set to be the largest submarines ever built by the United States, is a new class of ballistic missile submarines designed to replace the Ohio-class fleet. The first of these submarines began construction in May 2029 at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division.
The propulsion components for these submarines will be manufactured across Leonardo DRS facilities in Fitchburg, Massachusetts; Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin; Danbury, Connecticut; and High Ridge, Missouri.
