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SierraM · 07-25-2007, 11:53 AM

al.com: Everything Alabama

Delivery of Austal's LCS next summer
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
By SEAN REILLY
Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- Once scheduled for delivery this October, a littoral combat ship under construction at Austal USA's shipyard in Mobile is now scheduled to arrive late next summer, a top Navy official told the House Armed Services Seapower and Expeditionary Forces Subcommittee on Tuesday.

In her testimony, Deputy Assistant Navy Secretary Allison Stiller volunteered no details on the reason for the delay, and subcommittee members did not ask. The ship, designed for anti-mine warfare and other operations in shallow coastal waters, is about 53 percent complete, she said.

"I just think it's a lot more complex ship than we ever envisioned when we laid it out," Rear Admiral Barry McCullough, who also testified at the hearing, said in a brief interview afterward.
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Austal, which employs more than 1,000 people at its Mobile yard, is building the ship as part of a team led by General Dynamics Corp. In a phone interview, Jim DeMartini, a spokesman for the Virginia-based defense con-

tractor, offered a slightly different date, saying that the company anticipates delivery next June.

"Why it's moved out there is a combination of any number of things, but all those have been worked with the Navy and schedules adjusted," DeMartini said.

The vessel under construction is the first of two prototypes that Austal is slated to build, with preliminary work on the second already under way, DeMartini said.

The General Dynamics/Austal group is competing against a separate team headed by Maryland-based Lockheed Martin Corp. which is producing its own LCS prototype built to a different seaframe design.

The Navy, which ultimately wants to build 55 of the ships, had planned to choose one of the two designs in 2010 as the basis for future orders. Stiller on Tuesday, however, did not rule out using both designs "if the operational evaluation concludes the need for both."

Like other naval shipbuilding initiatives, the LCS program has turned out to be far more expensive than first budgeted. While the seaframes were supposed to cost about $250 million in inflation-adjusted dollars, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office now says the first General Dynamics/Austal and Lockheed Martin prototypes will cost about $630 million each.

Included in that figure are outfitting costs and other expenses not covered in the Navy's estimate, along with one-time expenses because the ships will be the first in a new class, said Eric Labs, a CBO analyst.

But the Navy's estimate "was never realistic to start with," Labs said. The Navy has also had to face design and construction problems that will probably affect the Austal LCS, he said.

Both McCullough and DeMartini declined comment on the CBO estimate, saying they did not know what went into that number. Navy officials have declined to give their current projected price tag for the first Austal LCS, disclosing only that it is 50 percent to 75 percent above the original $223 million contract price, depending on the basis of comparison.

Future LCS buys will cost about $450 million each, not counting mission modules, the CBO estimates.

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Does anybody have any idea why the GD version is taking so long to get built?

Is this directly related to a desire to keep costs low? Does a slower building pace lead to lower cost?

07-25-2007, 11:53 AM	#17 (permalink)
SierraM New Member Join Date: 01-09-07 Posts: 9	al.com: Everything Alabama Delivery of Austal's LCS next summer Wednesday, July 25, 2007 By SEAN REILLY Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- Once scheduled for delivery this October, a littoral combat ship under construction at Austal USA's shipyard in Mobile is now scheduled to arrive late next summer, a top Navy official told the House Armed Services Seapower and Expeditionary Forces Subcommittee on Tuesday. In her testimony, Deputy Assistant Navy Secretary Allison Stiller volunteered no details on the reason for the delay, and subcommittee members did not ask. The ship, designed for anti-mine warfare and other operations in shallow coastal waters, is about 53 percent complete, she said. "I just think it's a lot more complex ship than we ever envisioned when we laid it out," Rear Admiral Barry McCullough, who also testified at the hearing, said in a brief interview afterward. Advertisement Austal, which employs more than 1,000 people at its Mobile yard, is building the ship as part of a team led by General Dynamics Corp. In a phone interview, Jim DeMartini, a spokesman for the Virginia-based defense con- tractor, offered a slightly different date, saying that the company anticipates delivery next June. "Why it's moved out there is a combination of any number of things, but all those have been worked with the Navy and schedules adjusted," DeMartini said. The vessel under construction is the first of two prototypes that Austal is slated to build, with preliminary work on the second already under way, DeMartini said. The General Dynamics/Austal group is competing against a separate team headed by Maryland-based Lockheed Martin Corp. which is producing its own LCS prototype built to a different seaframe design. The Navy, which ultimately wants to build 55 of the ships, had planned to choose one of the two designs in 2010 as the basis for future orders. Stiller on Tuesday, however, did not rule out using both designs "if the operational evaluation concludes the need for both." Like other naval shipbuilding initiatives, the LCS program has turned out to be far more expensive than first budgeted. While the seaframes were supposed to cost about $250 million in inflation-adjusted dollars, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office now says the first General Dynamics/Austal and Lockheed Martin prototypes will cost about $630 million each. Included in that figure are outfitting costs and other expenses not covered in the Navy's estimate, along with one-time expenses because the ships will be the first in a new class, said Eric Labs, a CBO analyst. But the Navy's estimate "was never realistic to start with," Labs said. The Navy has also had to face design and construction problems that will probably affect the Austal LCS, he said. Both McCullough and DeMartini declined comment on the CBO estimate, saying they did not know what went into that number. Navy officials have declined to give their current projected price tag for the first Austal LCS, disclosing only that it is 50 percent to 75 percent above the original $223 million contract price, depending on the basis of comparison. Future LCS buys will cost about $450 million each, not counting mission modules, the CBO estimates. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Does anybody have any idea why the GD version is taking so long to get built? Is this directly related to a desire to keep costs low? Does a slower building pace lead to lower cost?