General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB) has laid the keel of the future USS Wisconsin, a Columbia-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) of the US Navy.
The future Wisconsin will belong to a class of SSBNs that will be the largest submarines ever built in the United States.
Upon completion, the boat will have a length of 560 feet (170 metres) and a displacement of 20,810 tons while armament will include 16 ballistic missiles and improved Mk 48 torpedoes.
GDEB is the prime contractor on the Columbia-class submarines, which will replace the aging Ohio-class SSBNs. The company will perform about 78 per cent of the construction of the Columbia-class at its manufacturing complex in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, while final assembly will take place in Groton, Connecticut.
The Columbia-class SSBN program has come under criticism due to delays and cost overruns.
Earlier this year, the US Government Accountability Office reported that the estimated total cost of the Columbia-class program has reached US$126 billion, or six per cent higher than initially projected.
Acquisition officials had remarked that manufacturing, workforce and supply chain issues have pushed the delivery of the first-in-class boat USS District of Columbia from its initial scheduled date of October 2027 to March 2029.