
A Navy admiral and the head of U.S. Strategic Command sent conflicting signals in Washington on Tuesday about whether a botched welding job on long-lead parts of the Columbia-class submarine could spell delay for the Navy’s top procurement. Columbia vendor BWX Technologies [BWXT], which reported record earnings this week on early Columbia work, incorrectly welded 12 Columbia missile tubes over the summer. As of Tuesday, the company was about 15 percent of the way through its planned fix, David Black,…