Defense bill sets $3.2B for Navy destroyers; BIW to build two

WASHINGTON – A $401.3 billion defense authorization bill approved by the U.S. Senate includes $3.2 billion for construction of three DDG-51 Arleigh Burke class destroyers.

Two of the ships will be built at Bath Iron Works in Maine.

The measure, which now goes to President Bush for his signature, also sets aside $1.1 billion for design and research work on the Navy’s next generation of destroyers, the DD-X, to be designed by BIW and Ingalls Shipbuilding in Mississippi.

The bill earmarks $183 million for continued development of the Littoral Combat Ship, a smaller Navy vessel to be used in coastal waters.

Sen. Olympia Snowe, cited the need for the Navy to bolster its commitment to these kinds of programs.

“Without a focused effort on the part of the Navy to commit and invest in a robust surface combatant program, I am concerned not only about the ability of the Navy’s surface combatant force to maintain current operating tempos but the continuing viability of our shipbuilding industrial base, as well,” she said.