THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 23, 1995 TAG: 9509230252
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Congressional budget negotiators agreed Friday night to a $1.5 billion submarine construction program for 1996, providing funds that could give Newport News Shipbuilding a slice of the Navy's sub business into the next century.
The package, which won a bipartisan endorsement from House and Senate conferees in a closed-to-the-public session, includes $700 million toward completion of the third and last Seawolf-class sub, already under construction at Electric Boat in Groton, Conn.
An additional $700 million would be provided for continued development of the first of a new generation of subs that would be smaller and cheaper than the Seawolf. The bill includes $100 million to begin work on a second such boat.
Shipyard and Navy officials were unavailable for comment on the plan Friday night. It appears close to a package passed earlier this year by the Senate that was endorsed by the yards and the Navy.
The bill could receive final approval in both houses of Congress as soon as next week. But it leaves unanswered, for now, questions about how work on the post-Seawolf subs will be divided between Newport News and Electric Boat.
Another House-Senate panel is considering that subject. A Senate-approved plan would let Electric Boat build the first boat in the new class of subs, beginning in 1998. Newport News would be guaranteed the second ship, beginning in 1999, and the yards would compete for contracts after that.
The House has urged a dramatically different approach. It would kill the Seawolf program after just two subs and order development of several ``technology demonstrator'' subs that would encourage Newport News and Electric Boat engineers to experiment with advances in sub quieting and propulsion.
Each of the subs in the post-Seawolf class is expected to cost about $1.5 billion, with the value of the 30-sub program about $50 billion. The Seawolf subs cost more than $2.5 billion each.
Newport News christened the last sub it currently has under contract, the Cheyenne, in April. Yard officials have said they need additional work quickly in order to maintain specialized sub-building skills.
The submarine issue was among the thorniest facing the conferees, who settled on a total defense budget of $243 billion for 1996. That's about $1.5 billion more than the final figure for 1995 and about $5 billion more than requested for '96 by the Clinton administration.
The plan includes a proposal of $493 million for continued production of the Air Force's B-2 ``stealth'' bomber. The Pentagon says the 20 B-2s it has are sufficient.
The conferees also recommended a total of $2.3 billion for a pair of amphibious ships for the Navy, $823 million for 18 new F/A-18 attack jets and $2.1 billion for a pair of Arleigh Burke class destroyers. by CNB