Submarine maker Electric Boat to spend $99 million developing R&D site of Pfizer in Conn.

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Electric Boat buying Pfizer site in Conn.

HARTFORD, Conn. — Submarine maker Electric Boat, enjoying a boom in military demand, said Monday it will buy a research and development site from drug manufacturer Pfizer Inc. for a major expansion in southeastern Connecticut.

Parent company General Dynamics Corp. will spend $99 million to buy and develop the New London site and upgrade two buildings used by Electric Boat in nearby Groton. The state Department of Economic and Community Development also will give Electric Boat $15 million over three years for construction, equipment purchases and other activities.

The purchase price for the property will not be disclosed until the closing in a month or two, said Electric Boat President John P. Casey.

Electric Boat said it will create 700 jobs, adding to its current 2,300 engineers and more than 8,000 employees in Connecticut. The hiring of engineers, designers and others is a reversal from a few years ago when members of Congress and military analysts said submarines were less important in the fight against terrorists or the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq than during the Cold War.

“The whole debate in Congress and the military has shifted,” Casey said. “It’s very clear in general that submarines have stealth that no other platform offers.”

About five years ago, Electric Boat executives believed the company would employ no more than 4,000 or 5,000 workers, he said. Now the estimate is up to 10,000.

“Now the debate isn’t whether we need submarines,” Casey said. “The debate is how much will it cost. We’re feeling pretty good about the business now.”

Iran and North Korea are perceived threats in the short run, and superpowers China and Russia still loom as possible threats. That means the U.S. arsenal will remain loaded with aircraft carriers, ballistic missiles, nuclear submarines, tanks and long-range bombers.

Casey said construction of the Ohio class of submarines represents a huge part of rising demand. Electric Boat also will make some design modifications for the Virginia class of submarines, he said.

Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., whose district includes southeastern Connecticut, said Electric Boat is getting ready to build two submarines a year, “a long-sought goal that will bring much-needed stability to the shipyard.”

Last year, Congress passed President Barack Obama’s budget request of $495 million for expanded research, development and studies for the Ohio program.

A new defense authorization bill that has been passed by the House proposes $672 million for submarine development, Courtney said. Over the next five years, an estimated $3.7 billion is planned for development that includes design in 2015 and construction in 2019.

Pfizer, the New York drugmaker, announced last year it would close its research center and relocate about 1,500 jobs to Groton on the other side of the Thames River.

Pfizer did not return a call seeking comment.

The attempt to acquire property triggered a fight over eminent domain that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Justices ruled in favor of the city in 2005, forcing residents from their homes.