More LCS Madness - Kerry pushes a late deal on ships

[unhappycamper]

The bill would authorize 10 more combat ships like the Independence. Note: the Independence cost us $704 million dollars, delivered.


Kerry pushes a late deal on ships
By Donovan Slack
Globe Staff / December 13, 2010

WASHINGTON — Senator John F. Kerry and Navy officials are pushing efforts to double an order of coastal combat ships, a plan that would dramatically expand a problem-plagued program while adding 500 jobs at a computer systems plant in Pittsfield.

“We’re anxiously waiting for it,’’ said Mayor James Ruberto of Pittsfield. “It would be just an incredible Christmas present for Pittsfield and the Berkshires.’’

But Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, and other backers in the Senate are running out of time in the congressional lame-duck session. Authorization for the 10 additional ships has been approved by the House as part of a budget bill, which includes about $1 billion to keep the program going, but it has yet to be approved by the Senate, where its fate is uncertain.

The Navy faces a deadline of tomorrow before bids on the next round of ships expire, making congressional action imperative before then.

Critics of the program, including Re publican John McCain, contend that cost overruns and technical problems in the building process make such an expansion unwarranted. They point to reports last week from the Government Accountability Office and Congressional Research Service, which said the four ships the Navy already bought still aren’t fully tested and working properly.

Each ship is expected to cost $500 million, up from an earlier estimate of $215 million.



unhappycamper comment: The USS Freedom (LCS #1) cost us $584 million dollars, delivered. For the first two ships of this class we have spent $1.288 billion dollars. Enough, already.

[madrchsod]

1. politics trumps principals.