A substantial share of it will be built in Newport News.

The U.S. Navy has awarded approximately $76.6 billion in contract modifications to General Dynamics Electric Boat and HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding for the construction of 14 nuclear-powered submarines. The agreement covers nine Virginia-class attack submarines, advance materials for an additional boat, five Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarines and roughly $5 billion to strengthen manufacturing operations and shipyard capacity.

The work will stretch into the late 2030s.

Rep. Joe Courtney of Connecticut called it the biggest shipbuilding award in modern American history. The Navy described the agreement as a historic investment in maritime modernization and American undersea supremacy.

For Virginia, the numbers are almost difficult to comprehend. But the most important number may not be $76.6 billion.

It may be 2038.

That timeline gives Hampton Roads something economic development leaders rarely receive: more than a decade of relatively visible industrial demand. It provides the certainty needed to hire workers, expand facilities, purchase equipment, finance supplier growth and build training programs around real production requirements rather than projections.

This is not simply another defense contract. It is a regional economic cycle that could last through most of the next two gubernatorial administrations and beyond.

The full award should not be described as a $76.6 billion contract for HII. Electric Boat is the prime contractor, and the work will be divided among facilities and suppliers in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Virginia, California and other states. HII’s precise dollar share has not yet been publicly separated.

But Newport News Shipbuilding’s role is enormous.

HII will serve as the delivery yard for six of the Virginia-class submarines included in the agreement. For the Columbia program, Newport News builds and delivers six major module sections for each submarine, including portions of the bow, stern, auxiliary machinery room, superstructure and weapons modules.

Newport News Shipbuilding already employs more than 26,000 people and is Virginia’s largest industrial employer. It is one of only two American shipyards capable of building nuclear-powered submarines and the only shipyard capable of designing, building and refueling nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

The new agreement places that workforce at the center of the largest submarine recapitalization effort in nearly half a century.

The first effects will be felt inside the shipyard.

The contract creates a long-term demand signal for welders, pipefitters, machinists, electricians, engineers, planners, designers, inspectors and thousands of other workers. It also creates demand for equipment, construction, industrial space, logistics, professional services and specialized manufacturing.

The ripple will move outward.

Shipyard workers will buy homes, rent apartments, enroll children in schools, purchase vehicles and spend money throughout the region. Contractors will expand. Machine shops will add shifts. Manufacturers will purchase equipment. Developers will look for industrial buildings near the waterfront and along the Interstate 64 corridor.

Newport News will feel the largest direct impact, but the economic geography will extend across Hampton Roads.

Workers will commute from Hampton, York County, Williamsburg, Gloucester, Isle of Wight, Suffolk, Chesapeake and communities throughout the Peninsula and Southside. Suppliers and subcontractors will operate across the region. Training programs at Virginia Peninsula Community College, Tidewater Community College and other institutions will face pressure to expand.

Defense already accounts for roughly four out of every 10 dollars of economic activity in Hampton Roads. A production commitment of this duration will further anchor the regional economy, even as tourism, trade and the federal civilian workforce experience greater uncertainty.

But the surge will not arrive automatically or evenly.

The Navy estimates that delivering one Columbia-class and two Virginia-class submarines annually will require approximately 140,000 skilled workers across the national submarine enterprise. The existing workforce and supplier network are not yet large enough to meet that requirement.

Hampton Roads must compete for those workers against other shipyards, advanced manufacturers, construction firms and less physically demanding occupations.

Housing costs, transportation, childcare availability and quality of life are therefore no longer secondary economic development issues. They are submarine production issues.

The award can reach far beyond Hampton Roads if Virginia deliberately builds the connections.

The Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing program in Danville already trains workers in welding, CNC machining, additive manufacturing, quality assurance and nondestructive testing for submarine-industrial-base careers. The program has the capacity to graduate approximately 1,000 workers annually, with more than 90 percent of its graduates entering defense-industrial-base employment.

That gives Virginia the foundation for a statewide production network.

Southside and Southwest Virginia have available industrial property, lower operating costs and communities seeking advanced manufacturing investment. Central Virginia has engineering, logistics and technology capabilities. Northern Virginia has defense technology, cybersecurity and systems-integration expertise. Hampton Roads has the shipyard, the fleet, the skilled trades and the maritime infrastructure.

The opportunity is to connect those pieces.

Virginia should be recruiting companies that manufacture submarine components, valves, pumps, castings, forgings, electrical systems and specialized materials. It should help existing machine shops earn the certifications needed to enter the nuclear shipbuilding supply chain. It should identify manufacturers that can assume work now performed inside the primary shipyards.

HII is already expanding distributed shipbuilding and outsourcing millions of production hours to partners outside its traditional shipyards. The company has added facilities and manufacturing relationships across multiple states because the required labor and capacity do not exist in one location.

That is both an opportunity and a warning.

Virginia cannot assume the work will remain here simply because Newport News Shipbuilding is here. Other states will compete for every supplier, training center and outsourced manufacturing operation associated with this contract.

Gov. Abigail Spanberger did not award this contract. It is a federal procurement decision supported over several years by Congress, the Navy, industry and leaders from both political parties.

But what Virginia captures from the award could become one of the defining economic development accomplishments of her administration.

The governor should treat the submarine program as Virginia would treat a $20 billion semiconductor plant or automotive campus, except this opportunity is larger, longer and more geographically dispersed.

That means establishing a governor-led Virginia Submarine Industrial Base initiative with measurable goals for workforce recruitment, supplier expansion, industrial-site development, housing and infrastructure.

It means creating a single statewide inventory of companies capable of entering the submarine supply chain.

It means providing capital assistance for small manufacturers that need new equipment, certifications or larger facilities.

It means aligning community colleges, high schools, apprenticeship programs and universities around the specific occupations the Navy and shipbuilders need.

It also means addressing the daily barriers that cause trained workers to leave: inadequate childcare, long commutes, housing costs and limited transportation between population centers and major employment sites.

Spanberger entered office with a background in national security and a stated focus on Virginia’s workforce and economic competitiveness. The largest shipbuilding award in modern American history now gives her administration an opportunity to unite those priorities.

Handled correctly, this will not be remembered only as an HII contract.

It will be remembered as the moment Virginia built a statewide advanced-manufacturing strategy around one of the country’s most important national-security missions.

The announcement provides demand certainty. It does not guarantee production success.

Congress must continue providing annual funding. Shipbuilders must improve schedules and productivity. Suppliers must increase capacity. Thousands of workers must be recruited, trained and retained. Housing and infrastructure must keep pace.

Those are substantial challenges.

But economic development rarely begins with this much certainty, this much capital and this long a runway.

For Hampton Roads, the coming decade could produce the most consequential industrial expansion since the region’s major military and shipbuilding buildup during World War II.

For Virginia, it offers the chance to turn a federal defense award into a statewide economic strategy.

The submarines will be delivered through 2038.

The decisions that determine how much of the opportunity Virginia captures must be made now.

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The Ledger Star is an independent digital publication covering the people, decisions, investments, and ideas shaping the future of Hampton Roads. It focuses on what matters most to the region's business, civic, and community leaders, providing context and analysis rather than chasing every headline.