(Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect additional information from House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee Ranking Member Joe Courtney (D-CT).) The Pentagon's acquisition executive has cleared the Columbia-class submarine program to commence engineering and manufacturing development, setting the stage for the Navy to direct General Dynamics to begin detailed design and construction on the service's top modernization priority: an estimated $100 billion project to build a new fleet of ballistic missile submarines. On Jan...
