After months of back-and-forth over whether the U.S. Navy should issue contracts for one, two or maybe three new Littoral Combat Ships in 2018, the answer appears to be: Three.

On Wednesday U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne, an advocate of the trimaran LCS variant built in Mobile by Austal Inc. and an overall advocate of a bigger navy, touted his role in settling on the bigger number, as did Sen. Luther Strange.

According to information provided by Strange's office, the same bill "includes a number of other key Alabama priorities, including full funding for Stryker lethality upgrades and supplies for the Civilian Marksmanship Program, both at Anniston Army Depot, and an increase in funding for missile defense programs developed in the state (THAAD, ground-based interceptors)."

"Securing the authorization for three more Littoral Combat Ships is a big win for Southwest Alabama and the thousands of people who work at the Austal shipyard in Mobile," Byrne said in a statement released Wednesday by his office. "Just as important, it is good news for the U.S. Navy because it means we will have more highly-capable ships added to the fleet."

The conference-committee draft of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act hasn't yet achieved final approval. Assuming it does get President Donald Trump's signature, it's not yet clear who will build the ships. Austal won two of three contracts handed out in 2017; the other went to Lockheed Martin for one of the monohull LCS variants it builds at Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Wisconsin. The most recent contract, for LCS 30, was awarded to Austal in early October.

At least in part, the contracts are driven by a need to keep the two shipyards healthy as the Navy develops plans for a frigate construction program that will follow the LCS.

A July article in Defense News described a battle over the Navy's fiscal 2018 budget request. With plans to issue three LCS contracts in 2017, the Navy floated the idea of just issuing one contract in 2018. According to the Defense News story, "The White House estimated that one ship in 2018 could trigger more than 1,000 layoffs between Marinette and Austal -- not a good look for an administration that rode a populist wave into office months earlier on a message of preserving and growing the manufacturing and industrial sectors, and who flipped Wisconsin red for the first time since 1984. Concerns were mounting that continuing a tepid buying strategy could even lead to the closure of one or both shipyards ahead of the Navy's planned shift from LCS to a new, more deadly frigate by the end of 2020."

As with so many debates in the history of the LCS program, the outcome was messy. On June 29, the USNI News reported that the Senate's Armed Services Committee had opted to stick with one LCS contract in its 2018 defense bill. Just a day later it reported that the Trump administration had shuffled some priorities - among other things, pushing back a new nuclear reactor core needed for a future carrier overhaul - to free up money for a second 2018 LCS contract.

The Senate passed a version of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act that provided for two LCS contracts, but the House passed a version calling for three. The compromise version released Wednesday by a conference committee calls for three.

A release from Strange's office gave the senator credit for pushing for the increase from one ship initially proposed to the two in the Senate version of the NDAA.

"As the saying goes, 'there is no limit to what a man can do when he does not mind who gets the credit.' Finalizing the NDAA with key wins for our state was a long process with many hands at work," Strange said in the release. "I was proud to be the only representative for Alabama and its brave men and women in uniform in NDAA conference negotiations on naval readiness, and I will continue to support their critical role in keeping America safe."

"My office is constantly working to maintain and support our shipbuilding industry, and I could not be prouder that we were able to overcome challenges in the Senate to get three ships authorized," Byrne said in his statement. "I want to thank Chairman Mac Thornberry for his help and support of the LCS program, and I look forward to supporting the bill when it comes before the House for a vote."