By Geoff Fein
The Navy’s $149.3 billion FY ’09 budget request includes $41.1 billion for ships, aircraft and weapons procurement in FY ’09, but removes four VH-71 presidential helicopters and four Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) from the plan projected at the release of last year’s budget.
The new budget, released yesterday, includes seven new construction ships and 206 aircraft, a loss of seven platforms, as originally planned.
In FY ’09 the Navy will add three Boeing [BA] F/A-18E/F Super Hornets to raise this year’s acquisition to 23. According to budget documents, the service will procure an additional 57 between FY ’10 and FY ’12.
The budget also reflects a decision to cut five of Bell Helicopter Textron‘s [TXT] AH-1Z and UH-1Y helicopters, dropping procurement from 25 to 20.
The biggest aviation change, however, is the plan to trim procurement of four of the Lockheed Martin [LMT], Bell and AgustaWestland VH-71 presidential helicopters. Under the new budget, the first three of the helicopters will not be procured until FY ’10. That number will jump to four per year for FY ’11, ’12 and ’13, according to budget documents.
The program, which is divided into two increments, has been hampered with cost and schedule issues. The Navy had been working on an assessment on how best to approach increment two. Increment two includes 23 new helicopters. Only five helicopters will be bought in increment one.
As a result of the decision to drop four VH-71s from aircraft procurement, the Navy is requesting an increase of roughly $810 million (above its FY ’08 funding), for continued research and development funding for the program. The Navy is seeking $1.04 billion, up from $225 million in its FY ’08 budget.
The Navy also cut two of Northrop Grumman‘s [NOC] MQ-8B Fire Scout vertical takeoff unmanned aerial vehicles (VTUAV). The Navy had planned to procure five in FY ’09.
On the ship side, as expected, the Navy sliced the number of LCS from six in FY ’09 to two. The decision reflects a change in the acquisition plan for the program.
“The Navy will procure a single seaframe in FY ’08. Contract awards will be for fixed price incentive fee contracts based on a limited competition between the current LCS seaframe prime contractors,” a Navy official said. “The Navy will request two seaframes for procurement in FY ’09.”
The Navy will require the contractor that is awarded the lone FY ’08 ship to use material from LCS-3 and LCS 4, which were both terminated last year, the official said.
Last January, the Navy acknowledged that the lead ship of the class, the Lockheed Martin-built USS Freedom (LCS-1), which service officials said could be built for $220 million (in FY ’05 dollars), increased to more than $350 million. Shortly thereafter the Navy had to inform Congress of plans to raise the cost cap on LCS-5 and -6 to $460 million.
“The FY ’08 ship will be subject to the $460 million cost cap,” the Navy official said.
Toward the end of 2008, the Navy reported that the General Dynamics-built USS Independence (LCS-2) was also facing cost overruns.
The Navy was unable to reach an agreement with the two competing teams on a new contract for each team’s second ship. That led the Navy to terminate Lockheed Martin’s contract for LCS-3 and General Dynamics’ contract for LCS-4.
Under the current plan, the Navy will not begin procuring six of the modular ships, built initially for mine warfare, anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, until FY ’13.
The Navy will also begin building the first of two DDG-1000s in FY ’09. According to a source, the contract is nearing award.
The Navy will also build two of the Lewis and Clark-class T-AKE dry cargo ships as well as the first two Joint High Speed Vessels (JHSV), a joint Army-Navy program. Each service will procure one JHSV in FY ’09.
However, the service pulled the lone Mobile Landing Platform, a key component of its sea basing program, from the FY ’09 budget.
Overall, in FY ’09, the Navy will see an increase of three surface combatants and one attack submarine, but a drop in one amphibious ship, according to Navy budget documents
The Navy will also see a drop in procurement of Raytheon‘s [RTN] Tactical Tomahawk cruise missile, falling from a high of 394 in FY ’08 to 207 in FY ’09, according to Navy budget documents.
The Navy will also significantly cut its procurement of Boeing’s Joint Direct Attack Munitions dropping from 1,145 in FY ’08 to 169 in FY ’09, as the weapon is phased out.