CRS Report for Congress: Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program: Background, Oversight Issues, and Options for Congress: May 19, 2009 - RL33741

The Navy is procuring a new type of surface combatant called the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). The LCS is a small, fast, relatively inexpensive combat ship that is to be equipped with modular plug-and-fight mission packages. The basic version of the LCS, without any mission packages, is referred to as the LCS sea frame. The Navy wants to procure a total of 55 LCSs. The Navy substantially restructured the LCS program in 2007 in response to significant cost growth and construction delays in the program. The first ship in the programLCS-1was commissioned into service on November 8, 2008. A secondLCS-2is to be delivered to the Navy later this year. Two more LCSs were funded in FY2009 at a cost of $1,020 million and are now under construction. The Navys proposed FY2010 budget requests $1,380 million for the procurement of three more LCSs. This figure equates to $460 million per shipthe unit procurement cost cap for the LCS program, which applies to LCSs procured in FY2010 and subsequent years. The Navys proposed FY2010 budget also requests $360.5 million in research and development funding for the LCS program. The $360.5 million includes $75.5 million to cover cost growth on the construction of ...