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Summary:
The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is a small, fast Navy surface combatant with modular weapon systems. The Navy wants to procure a total of 55. The first was procured in FY2005, three more were procured in FY2006, and the Navy's proposed FY2007 budget requests $521 million to procure two additional ships. The estimated procurement cost of each LCS has grown to about $260 million, an increase of about 18% over the original target cost of $220 million. Section 124 of the conference report on the FY2006 defense authorization bill (H.R. 1815) limits the cost of the two FY2007 ships to $220 million per ship. The Navy's FY2007 unfunded requirements list (URL) -- its "wish list" of items desired but not included in the FY2007 budget -- includes an additional two LCSs for an additional $520 million. LCSs are being built at three shipyards to two designs developed by two industry teams. For a longer discussion of the LCS program, see CRS Report RL32109, Navy DD(X), CG(X), and LCS Ship Acquisition Programs: Oversight Issues and Options for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke. This report will be updated as events warrant.
