The Defense Department wants authority to negotiate contracts with General Dynamics and Huntington Ingalls worth a combined $17.8 billion to build 10 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers over five years in consolidated deals it says would save $1.8 billion from purchasing the DDG-51 ships annually. On June 16, the Defense Department provided Congress a package of legislative proposals to accompany the fiscal year 2018 spending request. In them, the Pentagon details the case for negotiating a multiyear contract with the Navy's two...
