Panetta to visit Connecticut shipyard Thursday

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is traveling to Connecticut Thursday to visit General Dynamics Electric Boat’s shipyard.

Panetta will talk with workers and submarine suppliers and get a briefing on submarine construction during his trip to the warship manufacturer.

Shipyards like General Dynamics’ are bracing $350 billion in cuts to the Pentagon budget, a result of the debt-limit deal reached in August. Even more budget trimming could be on the way if the supercommittee fails to find $1.2 trillion in cuts.

The Defense Department’s annual industrial base assessment, which was released last month, found warship and aircraft manufacturers also face challenges going forward with the number of ships being produced.

“While U.S. shipbuilders produce the most capable warships in the world, the number of Navy ships being built each year is very low when compared to the number of ships being produced each year by the leading international shipyards,” the department told lawmakers. “A low volume of production makes it extremely difficult for U.S. shipyards to match the improvements in technology and productivity seen in the international shipyards.”