Number: RL32914
Title: Navy Ship Acquisition: Options for Lower-Cost Ship Designs--Issues for Congress
Authors: Ronald O'Rourke, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division 
Abstract: Rising procurement costs for Navy ships are a matter of concern for both Navy officials and Members of Congress who track Navy-related issues. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that executing a 30-year Navy shipbuilding plan submitted to Congress in early 2006 may require annual funding levels about 33% higher than the Navy plans, and about 76% more than the Navy has received on average in recent years. Combined with constraints on shipprocurement funding, rising ship procurement costs have caused the Navy in recent years to reduce planned ship procurement rates. Some Members of Congress have expressed concern about the effects these reduced rates would have on the future size of the Navy and on the shipyards that build the Navy's ships. The issue for Congress is how to respond to rising Navy ship procurement costs. Congress's decisions on this issue could affect future Navy capabilities, Navy funding requirements, and the shipbuilding industrial base.
Pages: 35
Date: December 11, 2006