HII awarded $1.2 billion for long-delayed overhaul of attack sub Boise

The Navy has awarded shipbuilder HII a contract modification worth approximately $1.2 billion for the engineering overhaul of the Los Angeles-class submarine Boise (SSN-764), according to a Pentagon contract announcement.

Boise has been sidelined since 2017, with the fast-attack submarine awaiting its overhaul while the Navy worked to dig its way out of a maintenance backlog. A series of delays prevented Boise from beginning its maintenance availability at Naval Station Norfolk, a public shipyard.

The Feb. 23 award clears the way for HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding to begin work on the submarine, with the overhaul expected to be finished by September 2029.

In March 2023, a Navy spokesperson told Inside Defense the vessel was undergoing early production work at Newport News to support the overhaul.

During an October hearing, then-Naval Submarine Forces Commander Adm. William Houston told lawmakers that maintenance backlogs pose the greatest challenge to submarine fleet readiness.

The Navy improved submarine operational availability from a rate of 60% to 66% within the past year, Houston said at the time, and is leveraging ongoing investments in both public and private infrastructure to achieve further improvements. The service is on track to reach an 80% operational availability rate for its attack submarines by late 2027 or early 2028, he said.