The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said the U.S. military doesn’t have a choice in retiring legacy systems, like the Littoral Combat Ship, to make way for future shipbuilding investments. The Pentagon and Congress must make “difficult decisions” as to what stays and what goes in the fleet given the importance of the Columbia-class ballistic nuclear missile submarine, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said during an event at the Center for a New American Security on Monday. “We must get Columbia in the water,” he added later, referring to the next class of ballistic missile submarines. In a follow-up … Continue reading SASC Chair Reed Defends Pentagon’s ‘Difficult Decisions’ to Decommission Legacy Warships