The multi-year deal to buy 15 nuclear submarines for the U.S. Navy that has been delayed by negotiations over ballooning costs of labor and material could be wrapped up by the end of the year, HII officials said during a Thursday earnings call. The negotiations between the Navy and submarine builders HII Newport News Shipbuilding and General Dynamics Electric Boat are for the 10 Block VI Virginia-class attack boats and five Columbia-class nuclear ballistic missile submarines, Chris Kastner said during HII’s latest quarterly earnings call. “The team’s working very hard to get that done before the end of the year,”