Huntington Ingalls Shipbuilding (HII) has announced the successful completion of the initial sea trials of the fast attack submarine USS MONTANA (SSN 794). The VIRGINIA class submarine, built at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division, spent several days at sea to test the ship’s systems and components, the company writes in a press release. Testing included submerging the submarine for the first time and high-speed manoeuvres while on the surface and submerged. HII teams will continue the testing programme and expect to deliver the boat to the US Navy later this year.
Construction of MONTANA began in 2015. The boat — the 21st VIRGINIA class submarine built as part of the teaming partnership with General Dynamic’s Electric Boat — was christened in September 2020.
JH
