US Navy’s Orders Actuators for Virginia-class Nuclear Submarines

Moog Inc. has been awarded a $33.8 million contract to supply more than one thousand actuators for the US Navy’s next 10 Virginia-class nuclear submarines.

This is part of the multi-year Block IV procurement, under which General Dynamics Electric Boat and Newport News Shipbuilding will construct and deliver the 19th through 28th submarines of the Class between 2014 and 2023. The U.S. Navy recently procured the Block IV boats through a multiyear contract approved by Congress in 2013 and awarded by the Navy on April 28, 2014.

Actuators provided by Moog perform a variety of functions in the Virginia-class submarine, ranging from controlling the flow of ballast water to performing elements of the torpedo launch sequence.

Moog provides a number of components under the SUBSAFE quality assurance program that are critical to submarine survivability and crew safety. Moog actuators are a key part of the system for forcing high-pressure air into the boat’s main ballast tanks to initiate an emergency surfacing maneuver.

David Hodge, business unit director for Naval Systems at Moog, said:

We design and manufacture these actuators to have low structure-borne vibration signature. In other words, we’re moving systems within the boat without making a lot of noise.

Throughout the process our staff maintains a quality-first mindset as the safety of the crew and the success of the mission depends on Moog technology.

Moog’s Orrville, Ohio facility has installed its technology on every U.S. nuclear submarine starting with the George Washington class in 1958.

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Press release, Image: US Navy