CAPITOL HILL: The odds keep getting better that the Navy will get two Virginia-class nuclear attack submarines in 2014 instead of one, with senators of both parties chiming in this morning to support yesterday’s pro-sub action by the House, and the Navy’s top acquisition official pointedly did not say no.

Congress never liked the plan to cut costs by deferring a Virginia until 2018, and yesterday the House Armed Services seapower panel released draft language authorizing, but not requiring, the Navy to buy a second sub in 2014. (The mark was formally approved at a short subcommittee session today that focused on the Littoral Combat Ship). This morning, on the opposite side of Capitol Hill, a Senate hearing ostensibly on the Marine Corps derailed into a bipartisan love-fest for the Virginia. Keep reading →