The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to cut a littoral combat ship from its annual defense policy bill, leaving three of the ships for the Navy despite lingering questions over its warfighting capabilities.

Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., had floated an amendment to the bill that would have moved $556 million for a littoral combat ship, or LCS, into buying munitions instead, a notion supported by committee Democrats who said the ships are unreliable. But the proposal was opposed and defeated by Republican committee members, especially those in districts where the LCS variants are built, by a 43-19 vote.

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