A major challenge for the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) in its effort to get more for its procurement spending is rebuilding an acquisition and design work force that was sharply reduced by past “acquisition reform” efforts, NAVSEA Executive Director Brian Person said May 5.
Taking cost out of NAVSEA programs has to be part of the command’s everyday efforts, Person said during a briefing at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Exposition.
Filling in for Vice Adm. Kevin McCoy, who was unexpectedly out of town, Person described the admiral’s “agenda for change,” which included reducing total ownership costs for the ships and systems it manages.
Person also said the Navy was going to be much more involved in developing the design and performance specifications of future ships, reversing a practice of having the contractors do most of the design work. But, he emphasized, “we’re not going to go back to mil specs,” the extensively detailed set of requirements that proved to be “very, very costly.”
Person said NAVSEA still was going through its investigation into the high number of apparently defective welds on ships coming out of Northrop Grumman’s shipyards, but said many of the suspected welds proved to be okay. Although he insisted that the Navy superintendent of shipbuilding was not expected to inspect 100 percent of the builder’s work, Person said they were working to increase the inspection work force.
Another of Adm. McCoy’s priorities, Person said, was getting surface Navy maintenance back into a disciplined program, a reflection of a series of failed inspections of ships while in service.
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