Newport News Shipbuilding’s Foundry recently completed a pour of the first casting for Wisconsin (SSBN 827), the nation’s second Columbia-class submarine.

In addition to the recent SSBN 827 casting, the Foundry has started the molding process for other Wisconsin castings.

Since restarting ballistic missile submarine construction at NNS for the first time in more than 50 years, shipbuilders in the Foundry have poured most of the NNS castings for the lead ship (SSBN 826), with all lead ship castings expected to be complete next year. This Wisconsin casting represents the beginning of sequential construction work on the Columbia-Class Program that will span the next two decades.

“We enjoy a strong collaboration with many teams across the company to keep our production on track,” said Foundry Superintendent Kenton Meland. “We are fortunate to have strong support from the Columbia Program Office, Engineering and Design, Laboratory Services, Non-Destructive Testing, Waterfront Support Services, Facilities and Component Fabrication and Assembly (CFA) Production Control so that we can meet our production commitments.”