BAE Systems Wins $138 Million Navy Contract for Virginia-Class Submarine Propulsors

BAE Systems Land & Armaments L.P. has received a $137.7 million Navy contract for Virginia-class submarine propulsors. The award covers material to manufacture propulsor subassemblies, engineering services, spare parts, and other manufacturing and support work. The Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division is the contracting activity. Work will take place in Louisville, Kentucky, under an ordering period of up to five years, with completion expected by September 2032.

Virginia-Class Propulsor Details

BAE will supply propulsors and material for their subassemblies. The Navy’s presolicitation notice identified forward subassemblies for fiscal 2026 and 2027 Virginia-class boats as an anticipated requirement, along with advanced propulsor hardware, equipment, materials and related engineering services as needed by the program.

The work supports the Carderock Division’s Advanced Propulsor Management Office, which manages submarine-propulsor design, testing, acquisition and delivery. Beyond manufacturing material, the award gives the Navy a means to obtain engineering, sparing and other support services over the contract period.

Virginia-Class Program Background

A Virginia-class propulsor generates the thrust to move the submarine while meeting acoustic, structural, torque and shaft-speed requirements, according to the Navy’s fiscal 2026 shipbuilding budget. The budget describes an assembly incorporating nickel-aluminum-bronze blades and a large steel-and-Inconel fabrication. It also identifies BAE as the prime contractor for listed propulsor procurements from fiscal 2024 through 2026.

Component demand sits within a larger submarine-production effort. In July 2026, the Navy announced a contract covering nine Virginia-class submarines planned across fiscal 2025 through 2029. The service’s goal of delivering two Virginia-class submarines annually remains difficult to meet: an April 2026 Government Accountability Office report said construction was progressing at about one boat per year as of June 2025, citing late supplier deliveries and workforce shortages among production challenges.

Award and Contractor Background

The Navy awarded the contract without competition after identifying BAE as the intended sole-source supplier in its presolicitation notice. The government award notice identifies firm-fixed-price, fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, and cost-based elements in the contract.

BAE has received other Carderock propulsor-related orders, including a $40.5 million order for Virginia-class forward-assembly material, manufacturing and delivery with a potential performance end in May 2030, and a $38.6 million order for SSN 815 forward-assembly material with a potential performance end in April 2029. Its longer history on the component includes a $72 million contract modification announced in 2016 for long-lead material and the manufacture and delivery of propulsors and tailcones for 10 Virginia-class shipsets and a spare.

This award was disclosed by the DoW in its daily press release. Additional contract details will be available on HigherGov in approximately 90 days under N0016726D1003 after the contract is formally disclosed by the government.