The Navy’s plan to purchase just one littoral combat ship would “irreversibly harm” the shipyard in Wisconsin where Lockheed Martin builds its version of the ship, according to a bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers.
The group of 13 lawmakers, which includes House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., warned in a letter to Navy Secretary Richard Spencer the single buy could cause the shipyard to eliminate hundreds of high-paying jobs and put the shipyard at a disadvantage when competing to build the service’s future frigate.
“We understand that one quarter of the Marinette shipyard workforce would need to be let go,” the lawmakers wrote. “To make matters worse, this devastating layoff would happen at the very moment the shipyard should be hiring more workers to successfully compete for the frigate.”
The letter adds new pressure on the Navy to buy more of the LCS in 2019 as the two shipyards that build it in Wisconsin and Alabama are faced with competing over the single purchase.
The Independence variant of the LCS is built by the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Ala.
Analysts warn that without more purchases one of the shipyards could disappear as the Navy ends the LCS program and transitions to the new frigate.
Last month, Spencer was pressed by Rep. Martha Roby, R-Ala., during testimony before the House Appropriations Committee to defend his budget plan for shipbuilding.
“We believe that is a good sustaining rate for both yards as we move into what is going to be a very robust competition for the frigate,” Spencer said at the time.
The Navy initially requested a single LCS last year in its budget but the White House intervened and it quickly added a second.
Congress ended up budgeting three of the ships, and analysts have said it is very likely it will again increase the current request as it puts together the defense budget in the coming weeks.
