Post by ferryfast admin on Sept 14, 2007 12:15:57 GMT -5
Panel calls for LCS cuts
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
By SEAN REILLY and GEORGE TALBOT
Staff Reporter
www.al.com/
WASHINGTON -- In a potential blow to the Navy's littoral combat ship program as well as one of Mobile's largest employers, a Senate panel voted Tuesday to scuttle construction of the second of two vessels under way at Austal USA's shipyard on the Mobile River.
As part of a $459 billion military spending bill, the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee also struck the Navy's request for about $911 million to order two more of the shore-hugging ships for the 2008 fiscal year that begins in October.
While far from final, the subcommittee's action is the sharpest sign yet of congressional impatience with the cost overruns and scheduling delays afflicting the LCS. In a report accompanying the bill, panel members voiced support for the program, saying it will equip the Navy to meet future threats.
But because of "significant uncertainty," the subcommittee sees no reason to order two more ships next year, according to the report, which also presses the Navy to speed up its timetable for choosing the combat ship's final design.
The full Senate Appropriations Committee is set to vote on the bill this morning.
In a statement, U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, a Tuscaloosa Republican who sits on the defense subcommittee as well as the full committee, didn't contest his colleagues' decision Tuesday.
While the LCS is "extremely important," Shelby said, the Navy needs to make "significant changes to its acquisition strategy to strike a balance between the needs of our naval forces and the best interests of the taxpayer."
U.S. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, had no immediate comment, a spokesman said.
If approved by the full committee and Senate, the bill will have to be reconciled with a House counterpart that would not touch funding for the second Austal LCS and also would give the Navy at least some of the money needed to buy another ship next year.
At Austal, which employs about 1,100 at its Mobile River yard, Chief Executive Officer Bob Browning said Tuesday that the subcommittee's action "is not good news, but you have to remember we're early in the budgeting process.
"It's the beginning of what will be a lengthy discussion," said Browning, who has been on the job about a month. "So while we're following it closely, it's way too soon to start drawing any conclusions
Over time, the Navy wants to buy 55 of the combat ships, intended for anti-submarine warfare and other missions in shallow coastal waters. Under an unusual purchasing plan, Austal is supposed to build two prototype vessels as part of a team led by Virginia-based General Dynamics Corp. A rival group headed by Lockheed Martin Corp., headquartered in Maryland, is building its own prototype.
In fiscal 2010, the Navy tentatively plans to choose one of the two designs as the basis of future orders.
The first of the General Dynamics/Austal vessels is about 60 percent complete, Browning said, and is now slated for delivery around summer of next year. But the ship's expected cost is 50 percent to 75 percent higher than its $223 million contract price, according to Navy officials who have repeatedly declined to be more specific.
Austal has just begun fabricating parts for the second ship, Browning said. The subcommittee legislation approved Tuesday would take back $300 million previously appropriated for construction of that vessel.
That step is aimed at pushing the Navy to make a design decision once the first Lockheed and General Dynamics/Austal ships are complete next year. In what could be taken as a sign that lawmakers don't want to kill the entire program, however, the bill includes a $75 million advance for construction of another LCS after the Navy settles on its preferred design.
Lt. Cmdr. John Schofield, a Navy spokesman, declined to comment on the bill, but said the Navy believes that its proposed fiscal 2008 budget, which includes $911 million for two LCS buys, will best help meet gaps in warfighting requirements.
Ronald O'Rourke, an analyst with the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, said the Navy has previously opposed the kind of purchasing blueprint proposed by the Senate panel on the grounds that the Navy "urgently" needs to get the combat ships into the fleet and would thus benefit from additional LCS orders while the two designs are being evaluated.
AUSTAL PHOTO CREDITS
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
By SEAN REILLY and GEORGE TALBOT
Staff Reporter
www.al.com/
WASHINGTON -- In a potential blow to the Navy's littoral combat ship program as well as one of Mobile's largest employers, a Senate panel voted Tuesday to scuttle construction of the second of two vessels under way at Austal USA's shipyard on the Mobile River.
As part of a $459 billion military spending bill, the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee also struck the Navy's request for about $911 million to order two more of the shore-hugging ships for the 2008 fiscal year that begins in October.
While far from final, the subcommittee's action is the sharpest sign yet of congressional impatience with the cost overruns and scheduling delays afflicting the LCS. In a report accompanying the bill, panel members voiced support for the program, saying it will equip the Navy to meet future threats.
But because of "significant uncertainty," the subcommittee sees no reason to order two more ships next year, according to the report, which also presses the Navy to speed up its timetable for choosing the combat ship's final design.
The full Senate Appropriations Committee is set to vote on the bill this morning.
In a statement, U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, a Tuscaloosa Republican who sits on the defense subcommittee as well as the full committee, didn't contest his colleagues' decision Tuesday.
While the LCS is "extremely important," Shelby said, the Navy needs to make "significant changes to its acquisition strategy to strike a balance between the needs of our naval forces and the best interests of the taxpayer."
U.S. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, had no immediate comment, a spokesman said.
If approved by the full committee and Senate, the bill will have to be reconciled with a House counterpart that would not touch funding for the second Austal LCS and also would give the Navy at least some of the money needed to buy another ship next year.
At Austal, which employs about 1,100 at its Mobile River yard, Chief Executive Officer Bob Browning said Tuesday that the subcommittee's action "is not good news, but you have to remember we're early in the budgeting process.
"It's the beginning of what will be a lengthy discussion," said Browning, who has been on the job about a month. "So while we're following it closely, it's way too soon to start drawing any conclusions
Over time, the Navy wants to buy 55 of the combat ships, intended for anti-submarine warfare and other missions in shallow coastal waters. Under an unusual purchasing plan, Austal is supposed to build two prototype vessels as part of a team led by Virginia-based General Dynamics Corp. A rival group headed by Lockheed Martin Corp., headquartered in Maryland, is building its own prototype.
In fiscal 2010, the Navy tentatively plans to choose one of the two designs as the basis of future orders.
The first of the General Dynamics/Austal vessels is about 60 percent complete, Browning said, and is now slated for delivery around summer of next year. But the ship's expected cost is 50 percent to 75 percent higher than its $223 million contract price, according to Navy officials who have repeatedly declined to be more specific.
Austal has just begun fabricating parts for the second ship, Browning said. The subcommittee legislation approved Tuesday would take back $300 million previously appropriated for construction of that vessel.
That step is aimed at pushing the Navy to make a design decision once the first Lockheed and General Dynamics/Austal ships are complete next year. In what could be taken as a sign that lawmakers don't want to kill the entire program, however, the bill includes a $75 million advance for construction of another LCS after the Navy settles on its preferred design.
Lt. Cmdr. John Schofield, a Navy spokesman, declined to comment on the bill, but said the Navy believes that its proposed fiscal 2008 budget, which includes $911 million for two LCS buys, will best help meet gaps in warfighting requirements.
Ronald O'Rourke, an analyst with the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, said the Navy has previously opposed the kind of purchasing blueprint proposed by the Senate panel on the grounds that the Navy "urgently" needs to get the combat ships into the fleet and would thus benefit from additional LCS orders while the two designs are being evaluated.
AUSTAL PHOTO CREDITS