Submarines

Connecticut submarine maker Electric Boat gave their annual legislative update on Thursday. The company has been aggressively recruiting to increase its workforce to meet the demand for submarines for the U.S. Navy.

Connecticut's three big defense contractors — Sikorsky, Electric Boat and Pratt & Whitney — will see major investments.

The Navy has awarded Suffolk County Community College a $2 million grant to teach 500 students how to build submarine parts.

The Australian Navy will use software made in Connecticut to help them train on their new American-made nuclear submarines, as part of the recent AUKUS defense agreement.

Connecticut-based submarine maker Electric Boat praised President Biden’s announcement Monday that the U.S. will sell at least three Virginia Class nuclear submarines to the Australian Navy.

Australia will purchase U.S.-manufactured, nuclear-powered attack submarines to modernize its fleet. The submarines, which cost $3 billion each, are built at shipbuilding plants in Virginia and Connecticut.

The newest Virginia-class fast attack submarine, which can dive to depths greater than 800 feet (240 meters), was originally christened in 2019. But the COVID-19 pandemic created some “slips in schedule” for the crew, said U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT), whose district includes General Dynamics Corp.’s Electric Boat Shipyard where the 377-foot (115-meter) submarine was constructed.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a defense spending bill that could increase the production of Virginia-class submarines by Connecticut-based…