Navy to cancel new destroyer program and buy older model

The Navy plans to cancel its DDG-1000 destroyer program after the first two ships are built and instead buy older but more affordable surface combatants, lawmakers said Wednesday.

Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England and Pentagon procurement chief John Young, a longtime supporter of the DDG-1000, signed off on the plan during a meeting with Navy leaders Tuesday, sources said.

Under the new acquisition strategy, the Navy would use the money once planned for the five remaining DDG-1000s to buy between eight and 11 DDG-51 Arleigh Burke class destroyers, whose production line has been dormant for years.

Navy Secretary Donald Winter and Adm. Gary Roughead, the Navy chief of staff, have been briefing their plan on Capitol Hill, where it is expected to draw mixed reviews from key lawmakers and could figure in the re-election prospects of Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. Members of the Maine and Mississippi delegations, whose states are home to the shipyards that build the Navy's destroyers, have long been divided over the issue.

At the urging of House Armed Services Seapower Subcommittee Chairman Gene Taylor, D-Miss., the House-passed version of the fiscal 2009 defense authorization bill rejected the Navy's $2.5 billion request to build the third DDG-1000 and instead included $400 million in advanced procurement for either the DDG-1000 or the DDG-51. Taylor, whose district includes Northrop Grumman's Pascagoula shipyard, has long said he would prefer the Navy buy the older destroyers.

Collins has fought for the continuation of the DDG-1000 program and immediately voiced her opposition to the Navy's decision. Bath Iron Works in Maine also builds DDG-1000s and split production of DDG-51s with Pascagoula.

"Compared with the DDG-51 program, which the Navy is considering continuing, the DDG-1000 program provides far more work and about three times the amount of money for BIW per ship," Collins said. "Bath's share of the DDG-1000 it now has under contract is $1.4 billion, while the shipyard's share of the most recent DDG-51 it now has under construction amounts to only about $500 million." Collins met Wednesday with Bath Iron Works President Dugan Shipway, who flew to Washington upon hearing of the Navy's new plan.

"I have pledged to work with him and everyone at BIW to fight for a plan to lessen the potentially devastating consequences of this decision on BIW," said Collins, who is in a tough re-election fight with Democratic Rep. Tom Allen. If the Navy buys nine DDG-51s over the next six years, she added, Bath Iron Works would have to work on "virtually all of them" to maintain its workload and prevent job losses, she added.

Roughead's support for the DDG-1000 program has long been considered lackluster. "On balance, the procurement cost of a single DDG-51 is significantly less than that of a DDG-1000 and the life-cycle costs of the two classes are similar," Roughead wrote in a May 7 letter to Senate Armed Services Seapower Subcommittee Chairman Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. But support for the program has remained high at the senior echelons of the Pentagon, particularly within Young's office. In a July 2 letter to Taylor, Young, a former Navy official, said that restarting production on the DDG-51s would "pose a risk to the shipbuilding budget and inject additional cost."

Nimitz buzzed again

A Russian strategic nuclear bomber flew over the U.S. aircraft carrier Nimitz near South Korea on last Wednesday, the second time in two months a bomber flew close to the carrier and its task force.

The Bear H bomber flew within three to five miles and 2,000 feet above the Nimitz — the second time the Russians have sent the bombers over the aircraft carrier in a show of power.



A sailor on the Nimitz sent us a photograph of the first time the buzzing took place last month when two Bear-H bombers flew over the ship. U.S. F-18 jets shadowed the bomber last month and this week.

The Pentagon has sought to play down the Russian buzzing as non-threatening, but conservatives in the Pentagon are wondering when the Bush administration will take action to at least protest the buzzing, which used to be considered a hostile action.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said the overflight was not viewed as threatening or a concern.

Hoo-ah: USS New York built with WTC steel christened

Ship built with WTC steel christened
By BECKY BOHRER

AVONDALE, La. - The USS New York, an amphibious assault ship built with scrap steel from the ruins of the World Trade Center, was christened Saturday as a source of strength and inspiration for the nation.

Thousands of people, including friends and families of those who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, gathered near the hulking gray ship, trimmed in red, white and blue banners.

The bow stem, which contains 7.5 tons of steel from the site, bore a shield with two gray bars to symbolize the twin towers and a banner over that declaring "Never Forget," a slogan among New Yorkers.

"May God bless this ship and all who sail on her," ship sponsor Dotty England said before smashing a bottle of champagne against it, producing a loud thump to go with the spurting liquid and flying streamers.

Story after story of lives lost in, and touched by, the attacks peppered the ceremony, held under the blazing sun and broadcast on large screens. It all brought back painful memories for New York Police Lt. Matt Murphy. But the reason for his being here, though, was a source of pride, he said.

"I tell you, it's a fantastic day. Sometimes you think you're over something," he said, his eyes welling up as he looked off toward the ship, "and then you realize you're not completely."

Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England told the crowd that ship names provide a legacy, and that for their crews they serve as a source of strength and inspiration.

When the attacks occurred, the ship was planned but had no name. Then-New York Gov. George Pataki asked the Navy to commemorate the disaster by reviving the name New York. That required an exception to Navy policy of assigning state names only to nuclear submarines.

The steel from the towers is now part of the ship that splices through the water, leading the way.

"It resurrects the ashes, so to speak, to do great things for our nation," said Bill Glenn, a spokesman for Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, the ship builder.

Along with the steel from one of the worst terrorist attacks in the U.S., it also survived one of the nation's worst natural disasters: Hurricane Katrina.

The ship motivated many of the Avondale shipyard workers to return to the job, even though many lost their homes in the 2005 storm.

The billion-dollar, 25,000-ton vessel is 684 feet long, 105 feet wide. It is the fifth in a new class of warship, designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It can carry a crew of about 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.

USS New York's prospective commanding officer is Cmdr. F. Curtis Jones, a native New Yorker. It is to be commissioned, essentially added to the fleet, next year. It could be used as part of peaceful missions or as part of war, said Adm. Gary Roughead, the Navy's chief of operations.

That it could be used in war did not bother Lee Ielpi, president of the September 11th Families' Association, whose son, Jonathan, a firefighter, died in the attacks. The ship won't be used for war "unless you bother us," he said in an interview.

"We're sending a message that we're standing strong," he said, adding: "This ship, as it cuts through the water, is going to send a ripple. That ripple will say, 'We cherish our freedom.'"

Rep. Vito Fossella, R-N.Y., said Sept. 11 was a turning point in the nation, and will never be forgotten because remnants of the disaster are part of the ship.

"If the USS New York has to follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell, PCO Jones and his crew ... have my full support," he said to a standing ovation.