By Emelie Rutherford
A lawmaker who oversees the Navy was preparing legislation yesterday allowing the service to buy Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) from the two shipbuilders locked in a heated competition to build the shore-hugging vessels.
Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.), the outgoing chairman of the House Armed Services Seapower and Expeditionary Forces subcommittee, crafted a bill allowing the change in the LCS acquisition strategy, according to congressional aides. Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), the Seapower panel’s ranking member and likely chairman next year when Republicans control the House, is co-sponsoring the legislation.
Both Taylor and Akin had expressed reservations about the Navy’s previous plans to pick either the Lockheed Martin [LMT]-Marinette Marine LCS or the variant built by Austal USA. Yet the Navy did not relent in its push to garner the congressional approval by Dec. 14, with acquisition chief Sean Stackley calling Capitol Hill on Tuesday.
Taylor and other lawmakers said in interviews their main qualms with the LCS change was their lack of information and a full understanding of why the Navy did an about-face on its acquisition strategy. They are said to now have sufficient information from the sea service. Taylor was expected to file the legislation late yesterday or today.
The measure appears to have no major hurdles other than procedural ones. In the Senate, both Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) said they support buying LCSs from both companies.
Yet the legislative calendar during the current lame-duck session of Congress is busy. Aides said it was not clear if Taylor’s measure would move through the approval process as a stand-alone bill or if it will be attached to other legislation to help it move along.
The service tried and failed to have the legislative change attached to the must-pass continuing resolution, passed by the House on Wednesday, that temporarily extends the fiscal year 2011 federal budget at FY ’10 levels until Dec. 18.
The Navy wanted the new LCS strategy approved by Congress by Dec. 14, the day the current ship proposals it received from Austal USA and Lockheed Martin-Marinette Marine expire. The Navy has talked to the companies about extending the date on the bids past Dec. 14, sources said.
Service officials said last month that if they don’t receive Congress’ approval to change the LCS acquisition strategy by Dec. 14, they planned to stick with the plan to buy the next batch of ships from just one of the competitors.
Under the Navy’s proposal, it would buy 10 LCSs from Austal USA and Lockheed Martin-Marinette Marine, for a total of 20, instead of buying 10 ships from just one of the teams. General Dynamics [GD] partnered with Austal USA for the LCSs already built.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead has said the Navy wants to change its LCS plans because Lockheed Martin and Austal USA’s bids were affordable and the service could buy more ships and thus boost its fleet with a dual procurement.
Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, questions remained yesterday about how the FY ’11 federal budget will take shape after the continuing resolution expires on Dec. 18. House Democrats have worked on another continuing resolution for all of FY ’11, which ends next Sept. 30, while Senate Democrats have crafted an omnibus appropriations bill for all agencies including the Department of Defense.