{"id":37349,"date":"2019-02-05T19:27:58","date_gmt":"2019-02-05T19:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/05\/watchdog-navy-bought-too-many-helicopters\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:32:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:32:37","slug":"watchdog-navy-bought-too-many-helicopters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/02\/05\/watchdog-navy-bought-too-many-helicopters\/","title":{"rendered":"Watchdog: Navy bought too many helicopters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dogged by cost overruns, design glitches and debates about the vessel\u2019s ability to withstand modern sea battle, the Navy\u2019s Littoral Combat Ship<\/a> program has faced its share of controversy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Pentagon\u2019s decision to scale back the size<\/a> of the LCS fleet also led to the Navy buying more helicopters than it needs, costing taxpayers $1.4 billion \u2014 plus ongoing charges to store the choppers \u2015 according to a report<\/a> last month by the Defense Department\u2019s Inspector General.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initial plans drafted in 2007 called for the Navy to build 55 of the multi-mission warships but as the LCS program fell victim to delays, escalating costs and other headaches, the Pentagon winnowed the fleet to 32 vessels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And although the Navy had received only 11 littoral combat ships by early 2018, the pace for purchasing new MH-60 Seahawk<\/a> helicopters for the vessels never abated, IG determined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For reasons left unexplained in the report, no one told the Navy office in charge of procuring the aircraft that the size of the LCS fleet had dropped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is not a formal process to notify dependent weapon system\u2019s divisions of changes in program status,\u201d investigators wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n