Time reports that “the Navy’s endless push to build cheaper ships alarmed Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., at a House hearing Tuesday. ‘You mention that we’re hitting a cost target,’ he told the Navy brass about one class of vessels. ‘But if the ship’s not survivable, I don’t care if I meet my cost target if it’s in the bottom of the ocean.’”  

“That’s exactly where the Pentagon is looking to build underwater mini-depots for the U.S. Navy. In fact, only hours after Visclosky grumbled about sunken ships sitting on the bottom of the ocean, the Pentagon said it’s moving closer to making that cold and forbidding place a base for U.S. military hardware. It’s planning to test the concept in the Western Pacific, conveniently close to China, starting next year.”