I will bet that it plays out like the New Orleans dykes. Everyone wants the money for their own neck of the woods, but doesn’t want to spend it on what is really needed.
If the MSM can blame Republicans for a disaster, look for wall-to-wall coverage of skiffs being blown sky high in the Puget Sound.
If they can’t blame Republicans, look for page 37 when the QE 2 gets holed.
The problem is clearing mines isn’t cool. Mineclearing vessels tend to be slow and dumpy-looking.
Ever seen mineclearing on a Navy recruiting commericial?
Clearing mines is tedious, slow, dull, and dangerous work. And nobody gets to be CNO or top Admiral by being a mineclearing specialist.
However, there’s been some neat advancements in using UUVs (unmanned underwater vehicles) for mineclearing, and a new helicopter-mounted gun that shoots supercavitating bullets that can travel long distances underwater, to blow up mines quickly. And the first LCS module will be a mineclearing module.