The operational deployment of the mine countermeasures package for the Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) could encounter delays because of the budget turmoil on Capitol Hill that prevented the Navy from meeting some timeframes for moving forward with the mission set, senior Navy officials said yesterday.
Navy acquisition chief Sean Stackley told a Senate hearing that automatic spending cuts known as sequestration, along with other budget woes, have impacted plans to reach initial operational capability (IOC) for the mine module (MCM) in 2016.
“Sequestration, combined with recent congressional marks and rescissions, will impact the operational test schedule for the mine countermeasures,” Stackley said in prepared testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee’s seapower panel.
The MCM package is one of three modules planned for LCS. The others are for surface warfare (SuW) and anti-submarine warfare (ASW). The SuW and ASM packages remain on schedule for 2014 and 2017, respectively, Stackley said.
Vice Adm. Richard Hunt, the staff director at Naval Operations (OPNAV), said the continuing spending resolution (CR) approved by Congress for fiscal 2013 and covered half the year, prevented new starts and caused the possible slippage in the MCM program.
“We are now moving, but that certainly cost us time in FY ’13,” he later told reporters on a conference call.
Hunt said the Navy is assessing the situation and making adjustments, which would include eliminating some previously planned sequencing and moving faster to a final product in an effort to offset the loss time.
“We are looking at those things. We are making adjustments,” he said.