Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced on March 3, 2021 that the Virginia-class submarine USS Montana (SSN-794) was launched into the James River at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding division.
The 7,800-ton submarine, which had been in a floating dry dock since being transferred from a construction facility in October, was submerged and moved by tugboats to the shipyard’s submarine pier, for final outfitting, testing and crew certification.
«For our shipbuilders, launching Montana signifies five years of hard work, commitment and dedicated service», said Jason Ward, Newport News’ vice president of Virginia-class submarine construction. «We look forward to executing our waterborne test program, and working toward sea trials and delivering the submarine to the U.S. Navy later this year».
Through the teaming agreement with General Dynamics Electric Boat approximately 10,000 shipbuilders, as well as suppliers from all 50 states, have participated in Montana’s construction since the work began in 2015. Montana is approximately 92% complete and scheduled to be delivered to the U.S. Navy in late 2021.
Virginia-class submarines, a class of nuclear-powered fast attack submarines, are built for a broad spectrum of open ocean and littoral missions to replace the Navy’s Los Angeles-class submarines as they are retired. Virginia-class submarines incorporate dozens of new technologies and innovations that increase firepower, maneuverability and stealth and significantly enhance their warfighting capabilities. These submarines are capable of supporting multiple mission areas and can operate at submerged speeds of more than 25 knots for months at a time.
General Characteristics
| Builder | General Dynamics Electric Boat Division and Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. – Newport News Shipbuilding |
| Date Deployed | October 3, 2004 |
| Propulsion | One GE PWR S9G* nuclear reactor, two turbines, one shaft; 40,000 hp/30 MW |
| Length | 377 feet/114.8 m |
| Beam | 33 feet/10.0584 m |
| Hull Diameter | 34 feet/10.3632 m |
| Displacement | Approximately 7,800 tons/7,925 metric tons submerged |
| Speed | 25+ knots/28+ mph/46.3+ km/h |
| Diving Depth | 800+ feet/244+ m |
| Crew | 132: 15 officers; 117 enlisted |
| Armament: Tomahawk missiles | Two 87-in/2.2 m Virginia Payload Tubes (VPTs), each capable of launching 6 Tomahawk cruise missiles |
| Armament: MK-48 ADCAP (Advanced Capability) Mod 7 heavyweight torpedoes | 4 torpedo tubes |
| Weapons | MK-60 CAPTOR (Encapsulated Torpedo) mines, advanced mobile mines and UUVs (Unmanned Underwater Vehicles) |
* – Knolls Atomic Power Laboratories
Nuclear Submarine Lineup
Block IV
| Ship | Yard | Christening | Commissioned | Homeport |
| SSN-792 Vermont | EB | 10-20-18 | 04-18-20 | Groton, Connecticut |
| SSN-793 Oregon | EB | 10-05-19 | ||
| SSN-794 Montana | NNS | 09-12-20 | ||
| SSN-795 Hyman G. Rickover | EB | Under Construction | ||
| SSN-796 New Jersey | NNS | Under Construction | ||
| SSN-797 Iowa | EB | Under Construction | ||
| SSN-798 Massachusetts | NNS | Under Construction | ||
| SSN-799 Idaho | EB | Under Construction | ||
| SSN-800 Arkansas | NNS | Under Construction | ||
| SSN-801 Utah | EB | Under Construction |