Group Claims Amphibious Shipbuilding Industry in Danger  Group
Claims Amphibious Shipbuilding Industry in Danger  A
shipbuilding advocacy group issued a letter to the chairs of the
Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus saying that Congress has put
the amphibious shipbuilding industry in danger because it failed
to fund the twelfth San Antonio-class amphib.  The letter,
written by the Amphibious Warfare Industrial Base Coalition, or
AWIBC, to Rep. Rob Wittman, R– Va., and Rep. Joe Courtney,
D-Conn., criticized the decision not to build a twelfth San
Antonio Class LPD or amphibious transport dock. There are
currently plans to build 11 LPD 17s “fulfilling the acquisition
objective for this class,” Navy officials said.  Although AWIBC
did not list a dollar amount in their letter to Congress, the
unit cost of an LPD 17 amphibious transport dock is
approximately $1.7 to $1.8 billion dollars — according to DoD
budget documents.  AWIBC officials refer to the Navy 30-year
shipbuilding plan’s call to maintain a minimum of