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U.S. NAVY SHIP PROCUREMENT — An Update — by James McCaul, President International Maritime Associates This article is an excerpt from the first quarterly update to Interna- tional Maritime Associates' report on U.S. Navy Ship Procurement. It is divided into five sections: • legislative action • program developments • industry activity • projected market • revised Navy points of contact Information is current as of 1 August, except as noted. 1. LEGISLATIVE ACTION House/Senate conferees in late July reached a compromise on the FY 1986 defense authorization bill. The compromise provides defense spending authority of $302.5 billion. This compares with the administra- tion request for $322.2 billion. The Senate adopted the confer- ees' compromise on 30 July. House Democrat leaders put off a decision until September. An appropriations bill is still required to actually fund the program. Shipbuilding and Conversion The authorization bill provides $10.0 billion for shipbuilding and conversion in FY 1986. This com- pares with the Administration re- quest for $11.4 billion. Data showing House, Senate and Conference ac- tions are provided in Exhibit 1. Very little change in the program is imposed by the authorization bill. The House agreed in conference to accept the Senate reduction of two mine countermeasure ships (MCM). Four MCM's had been requested in the budget. Congress deferred ap- proval of the lead torpedo range tender proposed for next year. The Senate agreed in conference with the House to add $25 million for strategic sealift. Other changes in- volve minor funding reductions in specific programs, a general overall program funding cut of $100 mil- lion, and transfer of funding from prior years. Weapons DOD proposed to spend $5.6 bil- lion next year for missiles, torpedoes and other Navy weapon systems. As shown in Exhibit 2 Congress cut several programs by a small per- centage—but generally left the pro- curement plan intact. Additional funding was authorized for Side- winder and Sidearm missiles. The Senate added $60 million for 150 MK-60 Captor mines—and the House agreed in conference. DOD had not requested funding for Cap- tor mine purchases. As a result of these additions authorized spending for Navy weapons slightly exceeds the DOD budget request. Other Navy Procurement A budget of $6.6 billion was pro- posed for Navy electronics and sup- port equipment. House/Senate con- ferees agreed to authorize $6.0 bil- lion. As shown in Exhibit 3 some minor changes were made. The House added $12 million to buy 30 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
