The annual congressional battle is taking place on the funding of the Navy warships that are vital to Mobile's Austal USA plant.
The U.S. House, in its passage of a $717 billion defense policy measure last week, included three new littoral combat ships (LCS) which are built in Mobile and Wisconsin.
But the Senate Armed Services committee is looking for more information from the Navy before it commits to buying more ships in fiscal year 2019.
"Obviously, we are working with the Senate on that and the two appropriation committees," said U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Fairhope. "We feel we are in good shape there."
Among the reasons for Byrne's optimism is that U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, is chairman of the powerful appropriations committee.
"We are working very closely with Senator Shelby's office with this project," said Byrne.
The House, for the second year in a row, has led efforts to add additional funding to pay for the LCS construction vital to Austal's workforce. Austal USA, with around 4,000 direct employees, is Mobile's largest private employer.
Last year, the House passed a similar defense measure that included three LCS ships. But in the Senate, the LCS program has faced its critics. The most notable of those is Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain who has repeatedly said the LCS has not lived up to combat expectations.
The original fiscal year 2017 Senate defense budget included only one LCS, prompting Byrne to call out then-Sen. Luther Strange, who sat on the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee at the time.
Strange, last summer, was in a heated Republican primary election battle with former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore. Strange lost to Moore during a September 2017 Republican runoff election, and Moore went on to lose to Democrat Doug Jones during the December general election.
Congress ended up authorizing funding for three new LCS, and two of those contracts were issued to Austal.
Austal has delivered two LCS to the Navy this year, while another five are under construction. LCS 20, the future USS Cincinnati, was introduced with an official christening ceremony at the Mobile facility earlier this month.
Five LCS vessels built in Mobile are either preparing or are undergoing sea trials. Additionally, Austal has two more LCS in pre-construction phase.
Austal also builds a multipurpose fast transport ship for the Navy, and has delivered nine of the 12 ordered.
Meanwhile, Austal is in competition to for the Navy's 2020 award of 20 frigates called the FFG(X) class.
Five designs are under consideration, and proposals are due by June 2019.
Byrne said while he's confident about the LCS funding this year, he's worried about what might happen to the program in the 2019 budget. Shelby, during a May 1 visit to Mobile, said he liked Austal's chances in securing the Navy's frigate contact.
"As long as the Navy doesn't make the requirements of the ship being too big or expensive to make, I think Austal is in a good place to compete and win that competition," Byrne said. "The pressure is on the Navy to get the design done and not to blow up the cost of the ship."
Other competitors for the frigate contract include Lockheed-Martin, with a design based on its Freedom-class LCS built in Wisconsin; Fincantieri Marinette Marine, which is offering a version of a ship it builds for the Italian Navy and which also would be built in Wisconsin; and General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, with a design based on a European frigate that would be built in Maine.