Washington Outlook: Capital Wrapup

DEFENSE

Supporters of the Seawolf attack submarine are abandoning any pretext that their fight to save the threatened program has much to do with current U.S. defense needs. Instead, backers of continued construction at General Dynamics Corp.'s Electric Boat facility in Groton, Conn., are pursuing the struggle purely as a jobs issue. In a speech planned for Apr. 24, Admiral Carlisle A. H. Trost, the former Chief of Naval Operations who is now a GD consultant, will argue that Seawolf production is critical to 60,000 jobs in 37 states. To hammer the point home, his National Press Club audience will be given state-by-state lists of Seawolf subcontracts. The Pentagon does not want to buy any subs beyond the first prototype, but a House Appropriations subcommittee recently voted to fund a second ship.EDITED BY STEPHEN H. WILDSTROM