Thursday, March 15, 2012
Got no money for low income heating assistance
But when you are building the next generation of vitally needed aircraft carriers if you need an extra $Billion, no big deal. It's not like they are behind on the delivery schedule.
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus confirmed Thursday that the cost overrun for the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is projected to reach $1 billion, bringing the ship’s total cost to some $12 billion — but said it’s on track to be delivered on schedule.A serious threat to the future of the country but the program is safe, thank God.
The admission took place under questioning from Arizona Sen. John McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, who pointedly asked Mabus “what have you been doing on your watch” to control the costs on the new ship...
Would the Navy need to ask Congress for permission to go above the cost cap on the ship? McCain asked. Not this year, Mabus said — but next year, the service will probably have to get special authorization to pay to continue building.
Navy officials had said before that their worst-case scenario for the Ford was a $1.1 billion cost overrun, and that’s what they had planned for internally. But they said they thought the previous public number, $800 million, was probably as bad as it would get, leaving some headroom in their plans for the medium term.
McCain told Mabus that he’d be “reluctant” to spend more money on the Ford class until the Navy and Huntington-Ingalls can show they’ve gotten the ships’ costs under control. But there doesn’t seem to be any serious threat to the future of the program.
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