A Rocky Past but Key Support for a New Navy Ship April 5, 2012, 9:19 pm The agile Littoral Combat Ship is central to President Obama's Pacific and the Persian Gulf strategy, but its early history is one of cost overruns, cracked hulls and missed deadlines. The Pentagon, which faces $450 billion in cuts over the next decade, has made only the most modest of cutbacks on plans for the new ships, ordering a total of 55 of them for its projected 300-ship fleet. The vessels are popular with the Navy, and they benefit from support in high places, as Elisabeth Bumiller reports: The Navy's newest ship is designed to battle Iranian attack boats, clear mines from the Strait of Hormuz, chase down Somali pirates and keep watch on China's warships. Read the full article.