MOBILE –Rear Admiral Jonathan Rucker, the Navy’s program executive officer for attack submarines, on Thursday visited Mobile where he addressed more than 200 members of the Austal USA and General Dynamics Electric Boat submarine manufacturing team.
Rucker emphasized the importance of their work on the Virginia- and Columbia-class submarine programs before touring Austal’s ship manufacturing facility. He referred to the company’s role as a strategic partner to grow the submarine industrial base.
Austal USA is a ship manufacturer headquartered in Mobile, with service centers in San Diego and Singapore and a technology center in Charlottesville, Virgina.
As part of the company’s efforts to expand the production capacity of the submarine industrial base, Austal is manufacturing and outfitting modules for the Virginia- and Columbia-class programs. Seven modules under construction were on display for Rucker during his tour.
During the tour, Rucker also viewed the progress being made on the construction of Austal’s new 369,600-square-foot module manufacturing facility being purpose-built to produce submarine modules.
Module Manufacturing Facility-3 will achieve initial operating capability next summer and is considered a critical component for Austal in its role of increasing the capacity of the submarine industrial base.
“We appreciated the opportunity to host Rear Admiral Rucker this morning and show him the commitment of the entire Austal USA shipbuilding team to supporting the submarine industrial base,” Austal USA President Michelle Kruger said. “From the on-going work on manufacturing modules to the construction underway for our new production facility, our team is fully focused on increasing our production in support of the Columbia- and Virginia-class programs.”
Austal has delivered 32 ships to the Navy over the company’s 25-year history.
Austal also is leading the standup of the Navy Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence in Danville, Virgina, where the company is responsible for developing a national network of vendors with qualified additive manufacturing machines and processes to provide critical submarine parts.
Rucker in June 2022 became program executive officer for Attack Submarines, leading seven programs, offices and directorates across all fast-attack submarines and associated systems development, design, construction, testing and life cycle sustainment.
Information for this article was provided by Austal USA and the U.S. Navy.
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