WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Construction of one of the U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ships remained stopped Monday as the Pentagon reviewed what it said were significant cost increases.
The 90-day stop-work order issued late last week covers the LCS-3, the third vessel in the series which is being built by Lockheed Martin.
The ship is being built at Bollinger Shipyard in Louisiana under a $197.6 million contract awarded last summer.
The order does not apply to LCS-1, which is nearly completed, or LCS-2, which is being built by General Dynamics.
"I determined that at this point in time it was critical to stop work on LCS-3 to assess the LCS program and ensure we understand the program's cost and management processes before we move forward," Navy Secretary Donald Winter said in a news release. "It is essential that we complete LCS 1 and get it to sea so we can evaluate this new ship design."
The Navy did not get into the details of the specific overruns; however a spokesman told The Washington Post that the problem was linked largely to contractor performance and related labor costs, including a delay in delivering the ship's propulsion system.
Putting LCS-1, the USS Freedom, to sea is expected to shake out at least some of the bugs in the design for what is largely a new type of ship. The vessel is highly-networked and modularized to enable it to carry out multiple missions on shallow water with a relatively small crew.
The Navy said it was still committed to the program, which calls for 55 LCS vessels joining the fleet over the years.
