<p>
[quote]
A Navy program to build a new combat ship to patrol coastal waters will face another cost increase, government officials acknowledged yesterday, a hit to the service's attempt to keep expenses under control so it can afford a larger fleet.</p>
<p>The increase is expected to affect a version of the ship being built by General Dynamics and comes as Congress is becoming increasingly critical of rising costs in weapons programs and has questioned the Navy's handling of the combat-ship contract....
<p>
[quote]
The same kinds of issues that have caused Lockheed Martin’s first Littoral Combat Ship to nearly double in price are affecting the ship being built by competitor General Dynamics, the Navy’s top acquisition official said Wednesday.</p>
<p>“We think [the GD LCS] is going to have a cost overrun, too,” Delores Etter told a group of reporters at a Defense Writer’s Group breakfast in Washington. “Probably not too far from what we’re seeing” on the Lockheed Martin ship....
<p>
[quote]
The Navys top acquisition official was upbeat and positive May 7 about the troubled Littoral Combat Ship program, telling a Washington audience, Were back on track.</p>
<p>Earlier this year, severe cost overruns and manufacturer problems led the service to cancel plans to buy two more LCS ships in 2007 to pay for cost growth on the first ships. The construction contract for one of two LCSs being built by Lockheed Martin was cancelled, and in a touch of ignominy, a fire damaged the first ship late last month while it was under construction in Wisconsin. The service scaled back its original request for three ships in 2008 to two while the program weathered an intense internal review....
<p>
[quote]
Despite major cost problems with the program and some skepticism about the design concepts, Adm. Gary Roughead remains convinced that Littoral Combat Ships are the ships the Navy needs.</p>
<p>Ive always believed in the LCS, believed in the need for LCS, he said. And thats just reaffirmed to me that that is going to be a ship of the future for the U.S. Navy....
<p>
[quote]
The Department of the Navys senior acquisition official said shes confident the Navy will get back on track despite the recent stumble in its Littoral Combat Ship program.</p>
<p>The Navy plans to buy 55 of the ships, which will feature reconfigurable modules tailored for different warfare missions, and are expected to play a big role in the proposed future 313-ship fleet. But cost overruns prompted Navy Secretary Donald Winter to cancel one of the first four ships, a move that raised questions about the viability and affordability of the program....