CRS

JEDI: Inside Amazon’s Nesting-Doll Protest

Amazon’s new protest to the Pentagon isn’t about getting the Defense Department to change its mind, experts say. It’s really a signal to the judge in the long-running court battle over the JEDI contract.

Pentagon To Retire USS Truman Early, Shrinking Carrier Fleet To 10

The move could save more than $30 billion over 25 years to invest in high-tech weapons -- but Congress is sure to explode in outrage.

OMB ‘Supports’ Extra LCS, But Where’s The Money?

UPDATE: Source Says WH Will Fund LCS Add; CRS Naval Expert Comments  CAPITOL HILL: In a startling turnabout, the Trump Administration now “supports” adding a $541 million Littoral Combat Ship to yesterday’s 2018 budget request, Navy officials told Congress this afternoon. What, exactly, does that mean? The Navy doesn’t know. Minutes before Navy witnesses were to testify […]

355-Ship Fleet Costs $5B Extra Per Year: CRS

WASHINGTON: Building the Navy’s 355-ship fleet will be even harder than we thought, according to a new study from the Congressional Research Service. Veteran Navy expert Ronald O’Rourke estimates that, even if US shipyards work 50 percent faster than today, we wouldn’t have enough aircraft carriers until roughly 2030 — 14 years from now — and enough […]

LCS Frigate Block Buy Battle: Should Navy Buy Upgraded Ships Wholesale?

WASHINGTON: Should the Navy buy the next generation of Littoral Combat Ships in bulk? A contentious hearing today before House Armed Services subcommittee on oversight largely framed the options as polar opposites. You can either sign a multi-ship deal to drive down the price, at the risk of getting “locked in” to buying a flawed […]

The $2.6B Overrun That Never Was: A DC Cautionary Tale

WASHINGTON: This morning, Sen. Dick Durbin set off heart attacks across the Army when he said the service’s $13.8 billion Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle program was a whopping $2.6 billion over budget. AMPV is the last survivor of 14 years of cancelled major programs and deliberately designed to be modest, achievable, and affordable, so the previously […]