Congress appears poised to save five littoral combat ships from an early retirement, but the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee is saying that the fight to ditch the ships is not yet over.
The short-term budget deal approved by Congress freezes billions of dollars in planned Pentagon acquisitions programs, as well as some of President Joe Biden’s top priorities to deter China. It could be months before they move ahead.
House appropriators proposed $1.7 billion more for weapons procurement and $1.6 billion less for development and testing of cutting-edge technologies meant to deter China.