Leonardo has been awarded an additional integrated electric propulsion system component contract for the US Navy’s Columbia-class submarines.
The $3-billion contract includes designing and manufacturing key propulsion components such as the permanent magnet main propulsion electric motor, propulsion motor drives, switchgear, and propulsion controls.
It follows a similar $1-billion contract awarded in April 2023.
Leonardo has already conducted power endurance and other testing on the components at the US Navy’s land-based test facility.
Columbia Sub
The 560-foot (170-meter) ballistic missile submarine is earmarked to replace the existing Ohio class, starting at the end of the decade.
It will feature a stealthier electric propulsion unlike the mechanical propulsion outfitted on other US submarines.
With a displacement of nearly 21,000 tons, it will be the largest US submarine ever built.
A total of 12 boats will be built, each featuring up to 16 Trident II intercontinental ballistic missiles, eight fewer than Ohio.
Its nuclear reactor will have a lifetime operation of 42 years, allowing it to operate without the mid-life updates required by its predecessor.
