THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 18, 1996 TAG: 9604180351
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
The Navy has added up to $1.1 billion in work on a new aircraft carrier to a list of weapons programs it would seek to accelerate should Congress increase the proposed 1997 defense budget.
The ship, last in the Nimitz class of carriers, would be built at Newport News Shipbuilding. It was not slated to begin receiving funds until 1998, at the earliest, and neither the Navy nor the shipyard had included it in their plans for '97.
Republican lawmakers eager to beef up a Clinton administration plan they consider thin on weapons purchases could advance Pentagon timetables on the carrier and a variety of other arms, however. The administration wants to provide $39 billion for arms buys in 1997, out of a total defense budget of $243 billion.
GOP congressional leaders have asked the military branches to outline their priorities for spending up to $13 billion more. All four of the services have submitted lists.
The Navy's top priority for any added funds, Chief of Operations Adm. Mike Boorda told lawmakers last month, is $500 million for initial work on a new attack submarine to be built at Newport News.
Construction of that ship is not slated to begin until 1999, but the Navy needs to buy a nuclear reactor and some other components in '97 to meet the '99 schedule.
Any money provided in '97 for the carrier also would go for components related to its nuclear plant.
Answering questions from both House and Senate committees last month, Boorda said that after taking care of the submarine, he'd like to increase the Navy's purchase of the new F/A-18 E/F ``Super Hornet'' attack jets and accelerate development of a new amphibious assault ship. He did not mention the carrier then.
Congress is about to move into a critical phase in its work to shape the 1997 budget, as committees ``mark up'' the administration plan and send proposed bills to the floor. The House is expected to vote on a defense budget bill by June and the Senate by July.
KEYWORDS: DEFENSE BUDGET DEFENSE SPENDING SHIPBUILDING < by CNB