In the competition between Lockheed Martin and the Austal USA-General Dynamics team to have their design chosen for the LCS class, both companies are so heavily invested that some analysts speculate that a protest is inevitable.
RADM James McManamon, the deputy director for surface warfare at Naval Sea Systems Command, told Inside the Navy on May 5 he hoped that it wasn't the case, but the Navy was prepared to deal with it if it happened.
"We'll look at the mission," McManamon said.
"We'll look at our ship decommissionings and we'll work that product."