Senator: Proposed LCS cut likely to stand

Senator: Proposed LCS cut likely to stand
By William Matthews - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Sep 13, 2007 5:49:24 EDT

Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said it would be hard for him to reverse a decision Wednesday by the Senate Appropriations Committee to cancel construction of a second Littoral Combat Ship to be built in an Alabama shipyard.

Senate appropriators unanimously approved a $459.3 billion defense spending bill for 2008. That’s $3.8 billion less than President Bush requested for fiscal 2008, which begins Oct. 1.

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During a Senate Appropriations Committee meeting Wednesday, Shelby complained that the Senate version of the 2008 budget eliminates $910.5 million that the Navy had requested for the Littoral Combat Ship program.

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Originally priced at $233 million apiece, the Navy has acknowledged that LCS costs have ballooned by 50 percent to 75 percent.

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Funding for the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) may become a last-minute target when the full Senate takes up the spending bill later this month.

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Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, urged his colleagues to halt spending on an alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/09/navy_lcsupdate_070912/

If Darth Vader built a boat, it would look like that.

Just what we need. More weapons systems.

The entire GNP of Iran is just one-fifth of the U.S. defense budget. It's kind of hard to believe that anyone thinks Iran is crazy enough to mess with a superpower with a nut at the helm.