Groton ― The U.S. Navy on Tuesday awarded Electric Boat a $243.8 million contract to continue producing spare parts and specialized materials for the Virginia-class submarine program.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, in a statement said the contract demonstrates the Navy’s commitment to executing Congress’ directive to dramatically improve the operational availability of attack submarines to 80% in the next two years.

“As our public shipyards continue to upgrade infrastructure and hire at a pace to meet the demand for submarine availabilities, we need to make sure spare parts are delivered and in place before maintenance is required,” he said.

Funding for the contract was approved as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2024.