The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) detailed the funding cuts and reforms it is seeking–to efforts including the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and presidential helicopter–in the fiscal year 2014 defense authorization bill.
The committee previously approved the Pentagon policy legislation, which calls for nearly the same funding that President Barack Obama’s administration requested. The bill would authorize a $526.6 billion base defense budget, which is $9 million less than the Pentagon sought, and $80.7 billion in Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) war funding, or $18 million less than the request.
The bill promotes “aggressive and thorough oversight of DoD’s programs and activities to ensure proper stewardship of taxpayer’s dollars and compliance with relevant laws and regulations,” the SASC said in a summary.
Those measures include a requirement for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review the Navy’s LCS program to asses five factors: seaframe developmental test activities; mission module development and testing; lessons the Navy may be learning from the deployment of LCS-1 to Singapore; Navy studies on LCS requirements and technical capabilities, and any recommendations for changes from those studies; and the role of the LCS Council in overseeing LCS acquisition and fleet introduction.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) voiced concerns about the LCS program during the SASC’s closed markup of the defense bill, SASC Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) told reporters. McCain is expected to seek additional cost control on the shipbuilding program when the full Senate debates the bill.
The legislation also:
– mandates an annual GAO review of the future VXX presidential helicopter program until it begins full-rate production;
– amends the cost cap for the CVN-78 Ford-class aircraft carrier to $12.887 billion, as the Navy requested, while excluding cost increases in the shipboard testing program from the cap and calling for freezing payments of fees if the program manager’s estimate of program costs exceeds the cap;
– cuts $74.5 million from Army ammunition procurement “for excess amounts” and another $10.3 million deemed “ahead of need;”
– trims $25.4 million from Air Force and Navy classified programs;
– and requires the Pentagon to develop “a comprehensive plan to streamline management headquarters at all levels, with the objective of saving $100 billion over 10 years;” according to the summary.