The U.S. Navy accepted delivery of the future USS Illinois, the 13th Virginia-class submarine, on Saturday, the sea service announced.

The boat, built by General Dynamics Electric Boat, is the ninth consecutive Virginia-class submarine to be delivered early to the Navy, Naval Sea Systems Command said in a statement.

Officials aim to have Illinois out on operations next year, going from the start of construction to mission-ready in just more than six years, NAVSEA said.

Illinois is the third of eight Virginia-class Block III boats and is scheduled to be commissioned in October.

First lady Michelle Obama, a Chicago native, is the submarine's sponsor.

Illinois successfully completed the Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey trials in August in a series of tests where the boat was taken to test depth and its propulsion plant and material readiness were put to work.

The Block III boats feature a redesigned bow, which replaces 12 individual launch tubes with two large-diameter Virginia Payload Tubes, each capable of launching six Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Virginia-class subs are built to conduct a variety of missions in littoral and deep waters.

Four companies receive LCS maintenance and sustainment contracts
Washington (UPI) Aug 30, 2016 - BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards, General Dynamics NASSCO, Epsilon Systems Solutions and Lockheed Martin have been awarded U.S. Navy contracts for maintenance and sustainment of the Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship fleet.

BAE and General Dynamics' contracts contain five ordering periods and have a cumulative ceiling value of about $741 million.

The deal with Epsilon and Lockheed Martin also has five ordering periods and has a cumulative ceiling value of about $209 million.

The firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award contracts for BAE and GenDyn will involve Chief of Naval Operations availabilities, continuous maintenance, emergent maintenance, preventative/planned maintenance and facilities maintenance/corrosion control in and outside the United States.

The firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award contracts to Epsilon and Lockheed Martin will provide preventative/planned maintenance and facilities maintenance/corrosion control within the continental United States.

All four companies will have the opportunity to compete for individual delivery orders.

Work will be performed in Florida and outside the continental United States as needed, with an expected completion date of August 2021 if all ordering periods are executed.

Naval Sea Systems Command is the contracting activity.