GROTON, Conn., Aug. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- General Dynamics Electric Boat today delivered the New Hampshire (SSN-778), the nation's newest and most advanced nuclear-powered attack submarine, to the U.S. Navy eight months ahead of schedule. Electric Boat is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD).

At a brief shipyard ceremony, Electric Boat President John Casey gave credit to the Navy, the shipbuilders and the supplier base for achieving the early delivery date. 'This ship is a tangible reflection of the skill and craft of thousands of industry and shipyard workers. And it clearly demonstrates the nation's commitment to a strong national defense,' he said.

'As a result of numerous production and process improvements, Electric Boat is delivering New Hampshire to the Navy in 71 months, 16 months fewer than the lead ship,' Casey continued. 'Put another way, we reduced the time between when the ship enters the water and when it is delivered from 14 months on the first ship of the class to less than 6 months on the New Hampshire.'

New Hampshire is the fifth ship of the Virginia Class, the Navy's first major class of combatant ships designed with the post-Cold War security environment in mind. Virginia-class submarines embody warfighting and operational capabilities required to dominate the littorals while maintaining undersea dominance in the open ocean.

'Like the previous ships of the class, New Hampshire has been designed specifically to incorporate emergent technologies that will provide new capabilities to meet new threats,' Casey said. 'This enables the Virginia Class to make unique and significant contributions to national security for decades to come,' he said.

Electric Boat and Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding have received contracts to build the first 10 submarines of a planned 30-ship Virginia Class under a teaming agreement that splits the construction workload between the two shipyards.

General Dynamics, headquartered in Falls Church, Va., employs approximately 84,600 people worldwide and anticipates 2008 revenues of approximately $29.5 billion. The company is a market leader in business aviation; land and expeditionary combat systems, armaments and munitions; shipbuilding and marine systems; and information systems and technologies. More information about the company is available on the Internet at www.generaldynamics.com.

    Virginia-class characteristics
    Displacement:             7,835 tons
    Length:                   377 feet
    Beam:                     34 feet
    Payload:                  40 weapons; special operations forces;
                              unmanned undersea vehicles
    Weapons Launch:           Four 21-inch torpedo tubes; 12 vertical-launch
                              system tubes
    Weapons:                  Tomahawk land-attack missiles; Mark 48 advanced
                              capability torpedoes
    Crew:                     134 officers and enlisted men

    Ships of the class
    -- USS Virginia (SSN-774)
    -- USS Texas (SSN-775)
    -- USS Hawaii (SSN-776)
    -- USS North Carolina (SSN-777)
    -- New Hampshire (SSN-778)
    -- New Mexico (SSN-779)
    -- Missouri (SSN-780)
    -- California (SSN-781)
    -- Mississippi (SSN-782)
    -- Minnesota (SSN-783)
    -- North Dakota (SSN-784)

SOURCE General Dynamics Electric Boat