General Physics Corp., an engineering-services firm with an office in Middletown, recently was awarded a $46 million contract from the Naval Undersea Warfare Center to provide field-engineering services on Navy submarines.
Most of the work on the five-year contract – among the largest ever awarded by NUWC for engineering services – will be coordinated through the Middletown office, which has about 40 employees.
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General Physics, or GP, will support the development of periscope and electromagnetic systems, programs that will be used to provide tactical and strategic combat systems for Navy subs and land d facilities. GP will provide its engineering and technical services throughout the process – from planning and design to installation, testing and maintenance.
The work, which is slated for completion in August 2007, will be split between GP’s Middletown facility and the company’s office in Mystic, Conn., according to a statement issued by GP. Officials from the company could not be reached for an interview.
Gary Steigerwald, public affairs officer at NUWC, said the contract is part of the Navy’s ongoing effort to add new technologies to its fleet of attack subs and nuclear ballistic missile subs.
“We’re introducing various modifications to periscope and electromagnetic systems,” Steigerwald said. “The systems are constantly being changed and updated as new types of sensors are incorporated into them.”
NUWC, the Navy’s research and development arm for underwater weapon systems, contracts out much of its work to private defense firms – the vast majority of which are awarded to Rhode Island companies. Last year NUWC doled out $189 million in private contracts, and $166 million, or nearly 90 percent of that amount, went to Rhode Island defense contractors, Steigerwald said.
General Physics is the largest subsidiary of GP Strategies Corp., a public company based in New York City. The company, which provides work force development services to clients in the form of training, management systems and engineering services, had revenues of $186.6 million in 2001.
NUWC considered two offers after soliciting bids for the contract. Subcontractors slated to work on the various programs include Kollmorgen, Sonalysts, Unidyne, AMSEC/SAIC, SEA Corp, McLaughlin Research Corp. and Oceaneering/CLT.
