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From Inside Defense: BWX Technologies weighs when to ready for additional submarines

BWX Technologies, which makes the naval nuclear reactors for submarines and carriers, would need to invest about $100 million over several years to get ready to build Virginia-class submarines at a higher rate — but is waiting for greater certainty.

The Navy has advanced the idea of accelerating the pace of both the submarine program, as it readies for the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine, and the Ford-class carrier.

Rex Geveden, chief executive of BWX Technologies, told Inside Defense in an interview last week the company would be able to meet those more aggressive schedules, but needs to make some capital investments to prepare.

“We’re considered a long-lead item for the submarine programs, and so they need to be ordering cores from us two years in advance of that hull acquisition, the acquisition of the ship itself, the submarine or the carrier,” he said. “For us, that starts in 2019.”

“We need to capitalize some production capacity for that,” Geveden continued. “We don’t know the full magnitude yet because we don’t really understand how much of that is going to come to pass.”

He said the company is hoping to start deploying capital in mid-2017.

Read the full story here.

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