U.S. Navy Gives Nonprofit $1B Contract for Sub Workforce Programs

 

The U.S. Navy is going all-in on its partnership with a recently-founded non-profit, the BlueForge Alliance, handing the organization a contract worth nearly $1 billion to strengthen worker recruitment and resourcing for the U.S. submarine industrial base. The gaps in the nuclear submarine workforce are among the Navy's biggest procurement concerns, as worker shortages at the two prime contractors and their suppliers are causing production delays for the Columbia-class ballistic missile subs and the Virginia-class attack subs. 

BlueForge Alliance is based in College Station, Texas, and is best known for its BuildSubmarines.com advertising campaign. This initiative sponsors the RFK Racing NASCAR team, the Connecticut Sun WNBA team, the Cincinnati Reds Speedway Classic, and a variety of sports-related events. It also sponsors a growing roster of workforce nonprofits that bolster regional recruitment efforts for submarine manufacturing workers. 

The scale of the challenge is daunting. The Navy's sub suppliers need to increase production fivefold in order to meet strategic needs, and the deadline for ramping up is just four years away. The Navy is on a tight timetable to build replacements for the aging Ohio-class ballistic missile subs, the most survivable element of the nation's nuclear triad, while also delivering more Virginia-class boats for export to Australia. This could take as many as 100,000 new civilian shipbuilders and subcontractors, according to the service. 

"The Navy is on a generational journey to recapitalize its sea-based strategic deterrence and to guarantee a capable and enduring undersea presence," said Rear Admiral Scott Pappano, the head of the Navy's ballistic missile sub program, in a statement earlier this year. "Achieving that goal means strengthening supply chains to ensure America’s submarine industrial base has the capability, capacity, and skilled workforce to maintain our existing fleet and manufacture one Columbia and two Virginia class submarines per year."

The new sole-source contract with BlueForge is intended to address these needs. It provides $500 million in support for efforts to diversify the submarine supply chain, attract more workers, and improve retention. The program will also support R&D work to scale up and mature 3D printing and robotics technology for use in submarine construction, a technically demanding and precise specialty within naval shipbuilding. 

If all options are exercised, the total contract award could rise to $950 million. Taken together with past awards, the Navy has given BlueForge contracts worth a total of $1.3 billion.