The most high-profile changes in the Navy's budget request this year were forecast nearly two months before the service officially revealed its plans for fiscal year 2017. In a Dec. 14, 2015 memo to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered the Littoral Combat Ship buy truncated from 52 vessels to 40 and directed the service to spread its resources toward more high-end warfighting capabilities like advanced missiles and aircraft. Still, the service was able to negotiate for...