Navy Orders LCS-Barely

Tired of waiting on Congress, the Navy used some budget tricks to order its new Littoral Combat Ship for a 2006 start. From Defense News:

Because the rules that govern R&D spending are more lenient than those for ordinary procurement, the service was able to begin building a new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) in October even though the 2006 defense authorization and appropriations bills have yet to pass Congress or be signed by the president.
When the Navy signed a $223 million construction contract with General Dynamics on Oct. 14, congressional budget watchdogs and even some lawmakers wondered whether the service had overstepped its authority by agreeing to buy a ship before it had money in hand to do so.

The Navy seemed to break the rules, but this proved not the case:

First, money allocated for research and development is not as closely tied to specific programs as is money allocated for procurement, the aide explained. That’s because the cost of research and development projects are harder to predict than the cost of established programs due to their experimental nature. To compensate for that uncertainty, the services are given greater latitude to spend R&D money as they see fit.
Thus, the Navy does not need specific authorization to buy an LCS if it is using R&D money for the purchase.

Its a shame we're reduced to tricks to get warships built, but whatever it takes!