First Virginia Payload Module Completed for USS Arizona
Groton, September 17, 2026 — General Dynamics Electric Boat announced on September 14 that it had completed the first Virginia Payload Module (VPM) built for the future USS Arizona (SSGN-803), sharing a photo on its official social media. The 184-foot section was moved by barge from Quonset Point, Rhode Island, to the company’s Groton, Connecticut facility — what the company called the largest Virginia-class section shipment to date.
What is the VPM?
The Virginia Payload Module is a new hull section inserted into Virginia-class attack submarines, containing four large-diameter vertical launch tubes. Recognizable by its distinctive “hump” shape, the module more than triples the submarine’s existing strike capacity: each tube can carry seven Tomahawk-class cruise missiles, for 28 additional missiles in total. The module can also be configured to carry three Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) hypersonic boost-glide weapons per tube.
Why USS Arizona matters
USS Arizona will be the first ship in the VPM-equipped Block V group of Virginia-class submarines. Each VPM-equipped boat is 83 feet longer than its sister ships without the module; the 184-foot section makes up a significant share of the submarine’s total 460-foot length. Under the program, 19 submarines — 12 Block V and 7 Block VI — will receive the module over the next two decades.
Why it matters strategically
The VPM program is designed to offset the vertical-launch capacity that will be lost as the Navy’s four Ohio-class guided-missile submarines (SSGNs) begin retiring starting in 2027. Those four boats currently carry the bulk of the U.S. Navy’s submarine-launched conventional cruise-missile capacity; VPM-equipped Virginia-class boats will distribute that capacity across the attack submarine fleet going forward.
A framework for Turkey
Turkey’s submarine program continues with the German-designed Type 214TN Reis-class boats, which rely on torpedo-tube-launched Harpoon missiles and a planned indigenous cruise-missile capability rather than a vertical-launch module. The U.S. investment in VPM is a concrete illustration of how large-diameter vertical-launch modules can multiply a submarine’s weapons capacity — an architecture relevant to Turkey’s medium- and long-term planning for indigenous submarines and cruise-missile integration.
What remains unclear
USS Arizona’s firm delivery date, the timeline for final VPM assembly, and the submarine’s initial operational deployment plan have not yet been disclosed. General Dynamics has not shared a detailed schedule for the module’s next stages.
Sources
- General Dynamics Electric Boat, official social media post, September 14, 2026
- Naval News, “First Virginia Payload Module (VPM) Spotted for U.S. Navy’s Block V Submarines,” September 16, 2026
- Army Recognition, “US Navy transfers first Virginia Payload Module of USS Arizona submarine for final assembly”
