Really? Estimates on Navy ships unrealistic, SecNav

Reported as ARTICLE: Estimates on Navy ships unrealistic, official says. That "official" is the Secretary of the Navy and he says:

The service has ceded too much control over the acquisition process to industry, he complained, and must recruit a new corps of internal watchdogs to spot weaknesses in ship designs and flaws in production.

"Finding and developing the people we need is easier said than done... but we cannot ignore the leverage that can be obtained by putting the right, experienced and prepared people in the right positions," Winter said.

The industry, while underestimating ship costs, is under investing in new facilities and equipment that could help it produce ships more efficiently in the long run, he complained.

"It really hurts me, I have to tell you, to go outside the United States to foreign yards and foreign navies and see technology... in the production of their ships that exceeds that in U.S. yards," the secretary told reporters after the speech.

"That's wrong. It should not be."

Amen, Mr. Secretary, amen.

UPDATE: CDR Salamander's on it, too.