UK’s Fleet Solid Support ship programme deemed on track despite steel supply concerns
Shipbuilders are saying the programme is going ahead on time as the government estimates 7.7 million tonnes of steel are needed for 2026 infrastructure projects.
Latest Virginia-class submarine, USS Iowa, commissioned
The USS Iowa on its delivery to the US Navy in late 2024. (Photo: US Navy/John Narewski)
SSN-797 was commissioned as USS Iowa, the first Virginia-class submarine of the second Trump administration. It was described as “just the beginning” of a revitalisation of US naval shipbuilding by Secretary of the Navy John Phelan.
The latest Block IV Virginia-class submarine, SSN-797, has been commissioned into service with the US Navy (USN) as USS Iowa.
It is the sixth vessel in Block IV of the class, and the fourth to be built by General Dynamic Electric Boat (GDEB). The procurement is split between GDEB and Huntington Ingalls Industry (HII).
Only two more Block IV submarines have yet to be launched, SSN 800 and 801, USS Arkansas and Utah respectively, though four more remain to be commissioned into service and gain their names, with Massachusetts and Idaho to follow Iowa.
Those four boats will complete
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