ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, January 13, 1997 TAG: 9701130052
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS
SOURCE: Associated Press
Newport News Shipbuilding could get money to build an aircraft carrier sooner than expected if it agrees to work with its chief competitor on submarine projects, federal officials said.
Navy and Defense Department officials on Thursday told Virginia lawmakers the Navy's budget is stretched too thin to pay for all the warships Congress has ordered it to build over the next few years.
Newport News Shipbuilding and Electric Boat of Groton, Conn., longtime rivals, each are scheduled to build two submarines between 1998 and 2001.
The revised plan would call for the companies to work together building the subs over the next five years, instead of the next four. The two yards apparently already have agreed in principle to an approach that would have each yard building sections of the subs, then assembling them later.
In return for agreeing to share the project, the Navy would request an unspecified amount of money for the research and development of its next nuclear aircraft carrier in its 1998 budget proposal in early February. The government would make a down payment of $1billion on the carrier in 2000 and fully fund it with up to $4 billion in 2002.
The Navy was not expected to provide any carrier funding until 2000.
The revised plan would protect thousands of jobs at Newport News Shipbuilding well into the next century. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., said he expects it to be accepted by Congress.
LENGTH: Short : 36 linesby CNB