The Navy would get just one littoral combat ship in 2018 under the Senate Armed Services annual defense policy bill released this week, less than both the Trump administration and House have proposed.
The committee, headed by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a critic of the LCS program, made the proposal based on the acting Navy secretary’s testimony in May that only one LCS is needed, according to committee aides, despite the service’s amended request Thursday for a second ship.
“We found that testimony compelling,” said the aide who briefed the details of the committee’s National Defense Authorization Act on the condition of anonymity. The bill’s language is not likely to be released until after the July 4 holiday.
Stackley testified May 24 to a Senate Appropriations subcommittee that the Navy was asking for a single LCS for the coming year and that it was enough to keep the industrial base humming so the service can transition to a new generation of frigates.
But the White House immediately intervened and the Navy reversed course, saying it would amend its budget to request the additional ship. After weeks of anticipation, the service followed through with the amendment on Thursday.
The Navy now is requesting two ships and the House Armed Services has proposed three hulls in its version of the National Defense Authorization Act, which was passed by the committee late Wednesday night.
McCain has long criticized the LCS program as a classic example of Pentagon waste due to its rocky development and problems in service, such as hull cracks and crippling corrosion. The two variants of the ships are made by Lockheed Martin and Austal USA.
The chairman unloaded on the program again during an Armed Services Committee hearing this month.
“The Navy should procure the minimum number of LCS necessary to keep the workforce viable to compete for the new frigate,” he said. “Secretary Stackley has testified that would be one LCS in [fiscal year 2018], not more.”
