Huntington Ingalls Industries‘ (HII) subsidiary Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) is set to christen the new Virginia-class submarine John Warner (SSN 785) for the US Navy.

Scheduled for launch on 6 September, the navy announced that SSN 785 would be named after Virginia Senator John Warner.

NNS is working in collaboration with General Dynamics (GD) Electric Boat to build the vessel’s bow and stern sections, in addition to the Auxiliary Machinery Room (AMR) and the habitability and weapons sections.

"The Virginia-class submarines offer maximum cruise speed of more than 25k, while diving to more than 800ft deep and stay submerged for about three months at a time."

The 12th submarine of the Virginia class and the sixth delivered to the navy, John Warner is aimed at meeting the navy’s needs in a post-Cold War period with its sophisticated technologies to beef up firepower, manoeuvrability and stealth.

With a displacement of 7,800t, hull length of 377ft and a diameter of 34ft, the Virginia-class submarines offer maximum cruise speed of more than 25k, while diving to more than 800ft deep and stay submerged for about three months at a time.

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These vessels can be equipped with Mark 48 advanced capability torpedoes, Tomahawk land-attack missiles and unmanned underwater vehicles and cater to the latest mission requirements including anti-submarine, surface-ship warfare and special operations support.

Virginia-class vessels also support national security interests with their advanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance potential to collect intelligence essential to warfare efforts.

Recently, the US Navy received the first of eight Block III Virginia class vessels, PCU North Dakota (SSN 784) submarine, from General Dynamics (GD) Electric Boat.

Defence Technology