Defense bill includes $3.43 billion for destroyer work at Bath Iron Works

The defense subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday passed the 2015 defense spending bill, which includes full funding of nearly $3.43 billion for the DDG-51 and DDG-1000 destroyer construction programs at Bath Iron Works.

The bill, which goes to the full committee, includes $2.67 billion for procurement and $134 million for advance procurement of the DDG-51 program, and $622 million for procurement and research and development of the DDG-1000, according to the office of Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a member of the subcommittee.

The DDG-1000 is the so-called “stealth destroyer” line the Pentagon truncated — due to concerns about high costs — after three ships, all of which will be built at the Bath shipyard. The less expensive DDG-51 class of destroyers, which preceded the “stealth” line, has been restarted.

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