
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 27, 1990                   TAG: 9004270862
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/9   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

SEAWOLF SUBMARINE DEFICIENCIES CITED

The Seawolf attack submarine hasn't touched the water and it is already on the defensive at the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill.

With Defense Secretary Dick Cheney expected to complete an evaluation of Seawolf next month, a congressional panel added to the siege atmosphere Thursday by detailing serious deficiencies and cost overruns in the sub's computer system.

"The Seawolf represents the newest generation of attack submarines and perhaps the newest generation of waste and abuse at the Pentagon," said Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., chairman of a House Government Operations subcommittee investigating the program.

The inquiry turned up an internal Navy memo pointing out problems in a sophisticated computer system that runs everything from the engine to the sub's weapons systems.

"Without the computer software, the Seawolf submarine is just so much metal floating around out there," said Conyers.

The probe conducted by Conyers' national security subcommittee and the congressional General Accounting Office focused on the BSY-2 computer system, referred to colloquially as the "busy-two."

The computer is built for the Navy by the General Electric Co. in Syracuse, N.Y. It is designed specifically for the Seawolf, which is to be built in Groton, Conn., by General Dynamics Corp., and in Newport News, Va., by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.

- Associated Press

by CNB