Free Republic

Elon Musk just revealed that the government handed the Navy $12 billion to build new submarines—and not a single submarine was built. When investigators asked where the money went, Navy officials shrugged and said they had no idea. “There’s a case where I think Senator Collins was telling me about how she gave the Navy $12 billion for more submarines, got no extra submarines, and then held a hearing to say where the $12 billion go. “And they were like, we don’t know. That was it. I mean, basically, stuff is so crazy. Only the federal government could get away...

The Bath shipyard has contracts to build 11 new DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers for the Navy over the next eight years. Bath Iron Works is known for building Navy warships from the ground up, but if it wants to stay in business it has to do the same to its workforce. The shipyard is in the midst of a massive hiring push to finish a backlog of ship work and reinforce its army of mechanics, many of whom are nearing retirement age. With Maine’s historically low 3 percent unemployment rate and a statewide skilled labor shortage, BIW can’t afford to...

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) _ The Navy has changed course and decided to push for construction of a third DDG-1000 destroyer that would be built at Bath Iron Works, Sen. Susan Collins said Monday. The Maine Republican said Navy Secretary Donald Winter informed her of the decision that comes one month after the Navy said it was scrapping the Zumwalt destroyer program once the first two are built. The Navy said at the time that it was opting instead to build more of the current-generation DDG-51, or Arleigh Burke, destroyers. Collins quoted Winter as saying that in addition to seeking...

WASHINGTON — The powerful DDX Destroyer is nicknamed the "stealth" warship for its design that has several flat surfaces above the water to make it more difficult for the enemy to detect. The Navy wants to buy one DDX per year, paying about $3 billion per ship, but the place where the ships will be built is a point of disagreement between the Pentagon and Capitol Hill. The Pentagon wants the two shipyards that build the Navy's destroyers to compete, meaning only one would get the whole DDX contract. The two sites are Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., run by...

Northrop officials say destroyer program changes ahead PASCAGOULA, Miss.—A Northrop Grumman Ships Systems official says changes in the Navy's shipbuilding program could force the defense giant into direct competition with Bath Iron Works. Ship Systems President Phil Dur, speaking Tuesday to a business group in Pascagoula, said depending on how the Navy changes its DD(X) destroyer program, Northrop could go from building three of the next generation warships to building all or none. Ship Systems is scheduled to build the first three ships of the cutting-edge class in Pascagoula, with the Bath, Maine, shipyard building two. Recent changes in the...