Here are the programs that made the biggest news over the past week:
AL, WI lawmakers sound alarm on LCS — Not surprisingly, news that the Pentagon is considering slashing the Littoral Combat Ship buy by 20 ships has resulted in a swift outcry from members of Congress who stand to see a lot of jobs lost in their district as a result of such a move.
According to AL.com, 21 members of Congress representing primarily the manufacturer states of Alabama and Wisconsin have penned a letter to President Obama pleading with the administration to continue support a 52-ship LCS fleet. They argued such a move makes “little strategic or financial sense.”
Shipbuilders want another LPD — The shipbuilding industry is lobbying hard for Congress to make the Navy buy a 12th LPD-17 amphibious ship, we reported last week. Amphibious Warship Industrial Base Coalition chairman Brian Schires wrote to the Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus that it “is critical to national security that these combat warships and their U.S. Navy-Marine Corps teams be available and in position around the globe to respond to threats and to protect U.S. citizens.” The letter seeks incremental funding for the ship — something Congress has been very wary of permitting with anything but aircraft carriers.
F-35C tailhook passes test — In an encouraging bit of news for the F-35 program, the Wall Street Journal reported that the tailhook on the F-35C carrier variant has passed the first round of critical tests. The tailhook, which the Pentagon discovered not long ago was too short to properly hook the arresting cable on flight decks, created a significant worry that the aircraft would require a major redesign. However, officials expressed confidence that a sharpened tailhook would fix the problem. The successful test comes just months before carrier flight trials begin in October aboard the carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68).
GPS payload problems continue — The Air Force is running out of patience with the prime contractor’s performance in developing the navigation payload for the Global Positioning System (GPS) III satellite constellation, and are pursuing alternative industry source, we reported. The Air Force said Feb. 3 it would be delaying the launch availability date and payload delivery date due to continuing problems with the payload — which the Air Force now expects to receive in the summer.