Amen, until the dollars are authorized for actual construction, it remains a lot of planning and dreaming.Jeff I read that PEO statement about the LHA(R) before I posted previously and it is pretty vauge. No money has be authorized and without money there is no final design..So like the rest of the world, this time, we USN fans gotta wait.
But, they have spent over a hundred million on planning and prep work, and they have decomm'd Tarawa class vessels (Belleau Wood and Saipan, the Saipan just on April 20, 2007) and sunk the Belleau Wood, and I believe may sink the Saipan in weapons tests as well (a real shame and mistake in both cases IMHO)
I am pretty sure they will build the LHA(R), and at this point, it sure sounds like there may well be two versions.
If so, then the US will be getting 2-3 Sea Control capable aircraft carriers, built that way from the ground up.