Latest updates[?]: General Dynamics Electric Boat is receiving additional funding to advance with work on the Navy's new-class of ballistic missile submarines. The cost-plus-fixed-fee modification is valued at $480.6 million and provides for advance procurement and construction of the Columbia-class submarines. The USA aims to begin construction of the new SSBN in 2021, and have the new type enter service with the fleet in 2031. A total of 12 boats would be produced, with the last boat expected to leave service around 2085. The new Columbia-class boats will field 16 Trident II D5 nuclear ballistic missiles, along with torpedoes for self-defense. Work will be performed at multiple locations including Quonset, Rhode Island; Newport News, Virginia and Groton, Connecticut. This modification will be subsumed into the lead ship construction contract in October 2020.

Latest updates[?]: Indian media reports that the country successfully tested its first indigenous nuclear capable Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM). The missile, built under the codename B-05, was launched from the INS Arihant. During the test three missiles were fired from the Arihant at a depth of 20m and about 10km off the Vizag coast. Developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the 10-meter long B-05 has a strike range of about 750 km and weighs ten tonne. The two-stage missile uses solid propellant and can carry a payload of about 1000 kg. The INS Arihant is capable of carrying 12 B-05 or Sagarika missiles as well as torpedoes and cruise missiles. Indian defense scientists have also been testing longer-range K-series submarine-launched strategic missiles for the past few years. The long range (3,500 kilometers) K-4 missiles have so far been tested three times successfully from underwater pontoons, but the last test from a pontoon in December 2017 failed as the missile did not activate properly during the test. India has also started working on the K-5, which has a range of 5,000 kilometers, as well as the K-6, with its range of up to 6,000 km, for nuclear-powered submarines. This successful test heaves India into a quite exclusive club of nuclear countries. India is now the 6th country that has a nuclear triad, meaning that it can fire nuclear tipped missiles, from land, sea and air.

Latest updates[?]: The US Navy is further investing in its submarine launched nuclear ballistic missile capability. Lockheed Martin will provide a variety of services to support the fiscal 2019 Trident II missile production at a cost of $22.28 million. The Trident II D5 was first deployed in 1990. The US and UK respectively are investing in the Trident II D5 LE Program, which is intended to extend the service life of the weapon system until 2042, to match the hull life of the Ohio-class submarine. Under the program a further 108 missiles are being purchased, in order to meet long-term inventory requirements. The LE program involves updating the missile’s electronics, guidance and reentry systems. Lockheed Martin has managed has managed all of the US submarine-launched ballistic missile/ fleet ballistic missile (SLBM/FBM) programs since the first-generation Polaris. Work will be performed at the company’s location in Sunnyvale, California, and is expected to be completed by date September 2023.

Latest updates[?]: The Navy is contracting Flour Marine Propulsion LLC for work on nuclear propulsion. The cost-plus-fixed fee contract is valued at $1,2 billion and provides for work at the Naval Nuclear Laboratory. The Naval Nuclear Laboratory falls under the Department of Energy and provides advanced nuclear propulsion work and technical support to the Navy. They specifically work on the Navy's aircraft carrier and submarine nuclear fleet. The USA has had an all-nuclear submarine fleet for over 50 years, a policy that dates back to the visionary Admiral Hyman Rickover. On the surface, America’s aircraft carriers became an all-nuclear fleet with the retirement of the USS Kitty Hawk. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative estimated value of this contract to $13 billion. Work will be performed in Pennsylvania, New York and Idaho.

Latest updates[?]: Performance Aircraft Services is being contracted for repair work on the Navy’s fleet of E-6B aircraft. The $57 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract provides for the removal and replacement of sealant on fuel cells and aircraft surfaces, as well as on the internal surface of wing fuel tanks for up to 16 aircraft. The USA’s E-6 Mercury “survivable airborne communication system” airplanes support their Navy’s SSBN ballistic missile submarine force and overall strategic forces. The 707-300 derivatives have a range of about 5,500 miles and can easily carry 23 crew members. The E-6 flies independent random operations from various deployed sites for approximately 15-day intervals. Each deployed crew is self-supporting except for fuel and perishables, and the mission requires a 24-hour commitment of resources (alert posture) in the Atlantic and Pacific regions. Work will be performed in Waco, Texas and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It is expected to be completed in May 2023.

Latest updates[?]: The British government is awarding a contract to BAE Systems in relation to two submarine programs. The company will receive $3.26 billion to continue to the next phase of the Dreadnought program and will deliver the seventh Astute class submarine to the Royal Navy. The SSN Astute Class submarines are the successors to the Navy’s Swiftsure and Trafalger Class submarines. The Astute Class is the only platform used to launch long-range UGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles, in order to deliver conventional strikes against land targets. The Dreadnought program comes with a price tag of $41 billion. It is the British replacement project to its fleet of Vanguard class submarines. They will provide the UK’s ‘Continuous at sea deterrence’ capability by carrying the existing Trident missiles, which will not be replaced until the 2040s.

Latest updates[?]: The French government will buy a fifth Barracuda class nuclear attack submarine. A spokesperson for the Armed Forces Ministry confirmed in a statement that the Defense Minister Florence Parly made the decision on May 2nd. The draft multiyear budget that is set to run from 2019-2025 includes the funding for six Barracuda class submarines, delivery of which is scheduled for 2025. The Barracuda SSN program started in 2006 when France’s Defense Ministry awarded a contract for nuclear-propelled fast attack submarines to state-owned warship builder DCN and nuclear energy group Areva-TA. The Barracuda program will meet the French Navy’s operational mission needs by providing replacements for its 6 current Rubis Amethyste class nuclear attack submarines. The Barracuda’s are roughly the same size as the Royal Navy’s existing SSN Trafalgar Class boats, and twice the size of the current vessels. The program’s total value was initially set at then $11.13 billion but has since risen to over $12.32 billion.

Latest updates[?]: General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp, is being contracted for the provision of post-delivery work on the USS Colorado (SSN 788). The awarded contract is valued at over $14 million. The USS Colorado is the 15th Virginia Class submarine delivered to the US Navy. She was delivered on September 21, 2017 and was commissioned on March 17, 2018. The SSN 788 is part of a 5-year, $17 billion deal to strengthen the USA’s nuclear submarine fleet. The SSN 788 belongs to Block III submarines that took a big step forward by replacing the 12 vertical launch tubes with a more flexible “6-shooter” approach, and swapping a water-backed, horseshoe-shaped LAB sonar array for the existing air-backed spherical array. Electric Boat Corp. will perform planning and execution efforts, including long lead time material procurement, in preparation to accomplish the maintenance, repair, alterations, testing, and other work on USS Colorado. Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut and is expected to be completed by September 2018.

Latest updates[?]: Three European companies have entered tenders to Poland's Ministry of Defense to supply three new submarines to replace the Polish Navy's ageing Kobben-class subs. The contract is believed to be worth approximately $2.9 billion. Joining the fray are France's Naval Group with its Scorpene-class subs armed with MBDA’s naval cruise missiles; Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems is bidding with its Type 212CD-class subs; while Sweden's Saab-owned company Kockum is offering its A26-class subs. Naval Group's entry is the only tender to include cruise missiles as part of its deal, which some local observers say may give them the edge, while the German Type 212 has already been selected by Norway to replace its own ageing submarines—so if Warsaw was to join the procurement, it may drive down costs. According to the ministry, the new vessels will "constitute the essential combat and flagship element of the Polish Navy, and, at the same time, as they will be fitted with cruise missiles, they will be a key element of the state’s and alliance’s military deterrence.” Deliveries of the selected sub will take place between 2024 and 2026.

Latest updates[?]: A former aide to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been placed under formal investigation by French financial prosecutors as part of a probe into the 2002 sale of two Scorpene submarines to Malaysia. The accused, Razak Baginda, has denied wrongdoing when he was advisor to Najib during his stint as defense minister, and who oversaw the procurement from French shipyard DCN International—who then became a new entity called DCNS, which in turn rebranded itself as Naval Group this year. Last month, two French former defense industry executives were placed under investigation as part of the same probe into alleged kickbacks from that submarines deal. The investigation began after Malaysian human rights group Suaram alleged that the EUR 1 billion sale resulted in some $130 million of commissions being paid to a company linked to Najib.