(Reuters) - The U.S. Navy hopes to smooth out the impact onLockheed Martin Corp and Australia's Austal of a budget-driven decision to order three Littoral Combat Ships instead of four in fiscal year 2015, the Navy's top weapons buyer said on Thursday.
The Navy had planned to buy two of each of the different small warships built by Lockheed and Austal in fiscal 2015 and 2016, but it scaled back those orders to three ships a year as a result of budget cuts mandated by Congress.
Assistant Navy Secretary Sean Stackley told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee's seapower subcommittee that Navy officials would now meet with both companies, and evaluate their schedules, material purchases, expenditures and performance before deciding how to divvy up the orders this year.