Pentagon blocks littoral combat ship overruns from GAO report

(WASHINGTON) — The Pentagon office that reviews information to determine whether it is classified has blocked publication of potentially embarrassing data on cost overruns for the first two vessels bought under the Navy’s primary littoral combat ship contracts, Bloomberg reported.

In a report examining Navy shipbuilding contracts, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) deleted overrun information on USS Milwaukee, built by Lockheed Martin Corp., and USS Jackson, built by Austal Ltd., at the request of the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review. The GAO said the Defense Department “deemed the cost growth” on both vessels “to be sensitive but unclassified information, which is excluded from this public report. However, the percent difference” in cost for each ship “was above target cost.”

Other types of ships were listed with specific data on cost increases that ranged from 4 percent to 45 percent.

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By Professional Mariner Staff