NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — The Navy is getting an early Christmas present as the construction of the Virginia-class submarine Arkansas at Newport News Shipbuilding is now complete. 

Stretching more than 377 feet, the future USS Arkansas is ready to take to the seas. The submarine took more than six years to complete, with thousands of hands on deck from every single state. 

One of those shipbuilders said working on this was a full-circle moment. 

“It’s personal for me because I’m from Arkansas,’ said Joey Holden with Newport News Shipbuilding. 

The Arkansas is the 27th Virginia-class submarine. Virginia-class submarines are the most advanced attack submarines in the world, and officials say the capabilities of these subs increase firepower, maneuverability and stealth. 

“It’s amazing that the submarine is really our asymmetric advantage when it comes to national security,” said Jason Ward, vice president of Virginia-Class Submarine Construction for Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries. 

The sponsors are six women of the group known as the Little Rock Nine.

“When I received a letter from the secretary from the Navy saying we were invited to be sponsors, I was really shocked,” said Elizabeth Eckford of the Little Rock Nine. 

They were the first African American students to attend an all-White high school in Little Rock, Arkansas, during desegregation. 

“I think that it shows the strength that they brought to the table in terms of the adversity that they faced,” Ward said. “[It] is a characteristic that’s going to be part of the Arkansas for as long as she’s part of the Navy.” 

Newport News Shipbuilding is one of the only two shipyards capable of designing and building nuclear-powered submarines for the U.S. Navy.

The christening of the submarine will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday. Click here for the livestream.