SALEM, Ohio – The Hunt Valve division of Fairbanks Morse Defense has been awarded purchase orders totaling $96 million to provide essential valves for 12 new Virginia-class and five Columbia-class submarines, the company announced.

The orders ensure work for Hunt Valve for the next five or more years, enabling Hunt to make tools, machinery, workforce and inventory investments, Fairbanks said in a news release.

“This long-lead construction signals that the U.S. Navy is listening to industry challenges and actively collaborating to find solutions that strengthen our ability to serve,” Fairbanks Morse CEO George Whittier said in a statement.

The Columbia-class subs are high-priority, since they are designed to replace the existing Ohio-class submarines, which the U.S. Department of Defense intends to decommission in the coming years.  These Columbia submarines are the largest ever built by the U.S. Navy and use a propulsion system that converts nuclear energy into electric power, which makes them quieter and improves stealth.

The submarines will be constructed by General Dynamics Electric Boat. 

General Dynamics Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding are under contract to build 12 new Virginia-class attack submarines, which are designed to replace the Los Angeles-class attack subs.

Hunt Valve, 1913 E. State St., was acquired by Fairbanks Morse Defense in 2021. Hunt’s contract calls for the company to provide components such as ship service ball valves and forged high-pressure system valves to both submarine programs.