Moulton Advocates for Responsible Defense Spending in Response to Navy LCS Announcement
September 16, 2016
Navy takes four Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) out of deployment rotation
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Washington, D.C. - Today, Congressman Seth Moulton (D-MA) urged his colleagues in Congress to take a more critical look at our nation’s defense spending and in particular, continued spending on the flawed littoral combat ship (LCS) program. Navy officials just announced that they have sidelined four of their new LCS vessels, taking them out of deployment rotation in light of extensive field studies that exposed serious shortcomings, like engine problems and ship survivability.
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“It’s critical that we analyze all of our defense programs to ensure the Pentagon’s budget is being allocated in the soundest manner possible, and LCS funding is an example of irresponsible defense spending that puts lives at risk,” said Moulton. "The goals of the LCS program are admirable, but the bottom line is that the ship doesn’t work. Every additional dollar spent on this failing program is a dollar that could be spent on critical requirements for our frontline troops. We can’t afford that, and our troops don’t deserve it.”
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Earlier this year, Moulton expressed concerns about the direction of the LCS program, and he supported Defense Secretary Carter’s order to trim the overall number of LCS vessels and scale back production. In Moulton's role as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, he emphasized to his colleagues that our Navy’s shipbuilding dollars should not be wasted when we lack a plan to fix dangerous flaws.
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Instead of correcting these issues, the House passed an additional $384 million for the LCS program. The Navy’s decision to remove these four vessels from deployment rotation means they will not be used in an active combat capacity. It also means that over $1.4 billion dollars was spent on four ships that will not be deployable and will be resigned to a testing capacity.
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