What General Dynamics NASSCO does

General Dynamics NASSCO (National Steel and Shipbuilding Company) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD), acquired in 1998 and operating within the Marine Systems segment alongside Electric Boat and Bath Iron Works. Headquartered at a manufacturing shipyard on San Diego's Working Waterfront, NASSCO builds warships for the U.S. Navy and commercial vessels for maritime customers. Its core technology spans steel and aluminum shipbuilding, ship repair, and — through its sister subsidiary Electric Boat — nuclear submarine construction for Columbia-class and Virginia-class programs. NASSCO also constructs commercial tankers, container ships, and auxiliary vessels, and is the parent entity behind the 2012 acquisition of Earl Industries' Ship Repair Division, which expanded repair and maintenance operations on both U.S. coasts.

NASSCO operates on a hardware-sales revenue model derived from competitively bid, multi-year U.S. Department of Defense procurement contracts (long-term shipbuilding and ship repair) and a smaller stream of commercial ship construction contracts (e.g., the 2015 two-ship Matson contract; six commercial ships delivered in 2015). Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is negotiated directly with government and enterprise maritime buyers. The go-to-market is enterprise field sales directed at U.S. Navy and DoD procurement offices, with no consumer or retail channel.

As a division of General Dynamics, NASSCO benefits from the parent's $37.94 billion FY2020 revenue base (across 10 business units in 4 segments — Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, Technologies), a 117,000-person global workforce, supply chain of more than 35,400 suppliers (including 12,000+ small business partners), and operations in 65+ countries. NASSCO is led by President David J. Carver and is part of a defense prime holding ISO 14001-certified environmental management at more than 50 sites and a 2023 Science-Based Targets initiative commitment to a 40% greenhouse gas reduction by 2034.

Name

General Dynamics NASSCO

Legal name

General Dynamics Corporation

Website

https://gd.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1952

Operating status

Operating

Short description

General Dynamics NASSCO is a wholly-owned Marine Systems subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) that builds U.S. Navy warships and commercial vessels at its San Diego shipyard, serving primarily the U.S. Department of Defense and select commercial maritime customers under multi-year procurement contracts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Naval Shipbuilding and Ship Repair

NAICS

Ship Building and Repairing (336611), Ship and Boat Building (33661)

SIC

Ship & Boat Building & Repairing (3730)

akta.pro primary industry

Auxiliary & Logistics Naval Vessels (Replenishment, Support, Hospital) (IMAJABAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Naval Ship Modernization, Refits & Life Extension (Depot Maintenance) (IMAJABAI), Submarine Manufacturing (SSN/SSK/SSBN) (IMAJABAG), Surface Combatants (Destroyers, Frigates, Corvettes) (IMAJABAA)

Keywords

• Naval shipbuilding
• Ship repair services
• Military vessel construction
• Commercial shipbuilding
• Marine systems

Headquarters

HQ city

Reston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Defense shipbuilding and repair contracts: U.S. Navy shipbuilding programs including nuclear submarines, destroyers, and amphibious vessels. Revenue comes from long-term defense procurement contracts.
2. Commercial ship construction: Construction of commercial vessels for maritime industry customers including container ships and tankers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

General Dynamics NASSCO (National Steel and Shipbuilding Company) is a San Diego-based shipyard that constructs naval warships for the U.S. Navy and commercial vessels for shipping companies. As part of General Dynamics Marine Systems, NASSCO builds surface combatants, auxiliary vessels, tankers, and container ships, and provides full-service ship repair and maintenance. The shipyard serves as a primary West Coast hub within General Dynamics' naval shipbuilding portfolio.

Product overview

General Dynamics is a global aerospace and defense company organized into four operating segments: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies. The Marine Systems segment includes NASSCO (National Steel and Shipbuilding Company), which specializes in shipbuilding and repair for the U.S. Navy and commercial customers. NASSCO constructs nuclear-powered submarines, surface combatants, and auxiliary vessels at its San Diego shipyard. The company offers a diversified portfolio spanning business aviation (Gulfstream, Jet Aviation), naval shipbuilding (NASSCO, Electric Boat, Bath Iron Works), combat vehicles (Land Systems, European Land Systems, Ordnance and Tactical Systems), and information technology services (GDIT, Mission Systems).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Gulfstream: Business jets manufacturer
• Jet Aviation
• Bath Iron Works
• Electric Boat
• Land Systems
• European Land Systems
• Ordnance and Tactical Systems
• Mission Systems

Products and services

• NASSCO Naval Shipbuilding Construction of warships, surface combatants, and auxiliary vessels for the U.S. Navy at NASSCO's San Diego, California shipyard. Customers include U.S. Navy and U.S. Department of Defense procurement agencies.
• NASSCO Commercial Ship Construction Construction of commercial vessels including tankers and container ships for maritime shipping operators. Customers include commercial shipping companies such as Matson, Inc.
• NASSCO Ship Repair and Maintenance Services Full-service ship repair, overhaul, and maintenance services for military and commercial vessels at NASSCO's San Diego shipyard and additional facilities. Customers include the U.S. Navy and commercial shipping operators.

Quantifiable outcome

• Delivered six commercial ships in 2015

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Matson, Inc.minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015NASSCO signed a two-ship contract with Matson, Inc. in 2015 for commercial ship construction. Matson is a leading U.S. shipping company operating in the Pacific.
• U.S. NavycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary customer for shipbuilding programs including Virginia-class submarines, Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines, and DDG-51 destroyers.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• BAE Systems: Global defense prime with U.S. ship repair operations (BAE Systems Norfolk, San Diego Ship Repair) and a broad portfolio across combat vehicles, electronic systems, and naval platforms — directly comparable business mix to General Dynamics Marine Systems and Combat Systems.
• Northrop Grumman: U.S. defense prime in naval nuclear systems, strategic deterrence integration, and aerospace — comparable as a top-tier defense OEM with overlapping naval and mission-systems exposure to General Dynamics Technologies.
• Textron: U.S. defense prime with combat vehicles (Textron Systems), aviation (Bell), and marine (US Marine — previously) exposure; comparable as a publicly traded diversified defense platform peer.
• Lockheed Martin: U.S. defense prime providing submarine combat systems (with Electric Boat on Virginia/Columbia) and a broad aerospace-and-missiles portfolio; comparable in scale, government customer concentration, and public-market positioning to General Dynamics.
• RTX (Raytheon Technologies): Defense prime spanning missiles, propulsion, and integrated air-and-missile defense; comparable as a large publicly traded U.S. defense prime with adjacent naval combat-systems exposure.
• L3Harris Technologies: Defense prime in C4ISR, mission systems, and undersea warfare that integrates with the platforms General Dynamics builds; comparable in the Technologies segment of General Dynamics (Mission Systems).

Direct peers

• Austal USA: Builds Independence-class littoral combat ships and Expeditionary Fast Transport vessels for the U.S. Navy; competes with NASSCO and Bath Iron Works for surface combatant and auxiliary ship contracts.
• Huntington Ingalls Industries: HII is the only other U.S. shipyard building nuclear submarines (Newport News) and competes directly with NASSCO/Bath Iron Works on destroyers (Ingalls Shipbuilding) and amphibious ships for the U.S. Navy — a near-perfect dual-source naval prime comparable.

Emerging players

• Bollinger Shipyards: Privately held U.S. shipbuilder constructing Coast Guard cutters and support vessels, with growing naval auxiliary work; emerging U.S. shipyard competitor relevant to NASSCO's auxiliary and small-vessel backlog.

Regional players

• Fincantieri Marine Group: U.S. arm of Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri, building Constellation-class frigates for the U.S. Navy; directly comparable naval shipbuilding capability operating in adjacent vessel categories to Bath Iron Works.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/generaldynamics
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/general-dynamics-nassco

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about General Dynamics NASSCO