General Dynamics books two U.S. Navy contracts totaling about $343.7M for ship modernization and SLCM-N fire control work

USS Pinckney depot modernization in San Diego

General Dynamics was awarded a $149.6 million fixed-price incentive fee contract action for the FY26 Depot Modernization Period on USS Pinckney, covering labor, supervision, equipment, production, testing, facilities and quality assurance needed for the Chief of Naval Operations Availability. The award includes options that, if exercised, would bring its cumulative value to $149.92 million, with work to be performed in San Diego, California, and expected completion by September 2028. The Naval Sea Systems Command is the contracting activity, and the award was not competitively solicited under 10 U.S. Code 3204 as a single responsible source.

Fire control engineering for the SLCM-N program

Separately, General Dynamics Mission Systems received a $194,139,485 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification, identified as PZ0002, to previously awarded unpriced letter contract N0003026C7000, to provide engineering and technical support for the fire control subsystem of the Navy's nuclear-armed Sea-Launched Cruise Missile (SLCM-N). The modification includes optional line items, with work expected to continue through September 30, 2028, focused on systems to control and employ the future weapon rather than serial missile production.

Where the work will run

About 75 percent of the SLCM-N fire control work will be performed in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, with the remaining 25 percent in Manassas, Virginia. The Pinckney depot work will be performed in San Diego, California. Both contracts share an expected completion point in calendar year 2028, aligning the two awards on a multiyear execution window for separate ship and missile subsystems.

Strategic and industrial significance

The SLCM-N award places General Dynamics at the center of a fire control architecture intended to give attack submarines a regional nuclear strike option, complementing the strategic ballistic-missile submarine force. The company has previously designed, produced, installed and sustained fire control systems for Polaris, Poseidon, Trident I and Trident II, and remains prime integrator for the Trident II Fire Control System used by Ohio-class submarines and being introduced aboard the future Columbia-class. Earlier in 2026, General Dynamics received another contract with an initial value of $255 million to continue Trident II fire control support, with options that could raise that award to $740 million through 2032.

Acquisition authorities and disclosure trail

The USS Pinckney award was issued under a sole-source authority citing 10 U.S. Code 3204, with no competitive solicitation. The SLCM-N modification was disclosed by the U.S. Department of War on September 3, 2026, and reported by defense outlets on September 4, 2026, reflecting the program’s continuing engineering phase rather than a transition to production.

Next verifiable milestone

Both contracts run through September 2028, with the SLCM-N program working toward additional development decisions after its Milestone A approval in December 2025; further contract modifications or option exercises are the next expected disclosures.