Over the next 30 years, total ship purchases would be one-third higher under the December 2020 plan than under the previous one. The Navy envisions buying 300 combat ships, including aircraft carriers, three types of submarines, large and small surface combatants, and large and small amphibious warfare ships. By contrast, the Navy’s FY 2020 plan called for the purchase of 247 combat ships. The Navy would also buy 104 combat logistics and support ships under the new plan, almost double the number called for in the FY 2020 plan.
… Unlike the Navy’s FY 2020 shipbuilding plan, the new plan would incorporate large numbers of unmanned undersea and surface vehicles into the fleet. The FNFS included inventory goals of 119 to 166 unmanned medium surface vehicles (MUSVs) and large surface vehicles (LUSVs) and 24 to 76 extra-large unmanned undersea vehicles (XLUUVs), for a total of 143 to 242 systems.
That was from the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of the Navy’s December 2020 30-year shipbuilding plan. I’m glad to see the CBO providing new data in the report. Last year is was the inclusion of O&S costs. This year, there are nice inventory charts by type of ship over time. Check out the whole thing.
The CBO estimated the Frigate costs to be significantly higher than the Navy ($900M vs. $1.3B per ship). That was the most significant cost different in near term programs.
The total 30-year shipbuilding cost estimated by the Navy was $817B compared to the CBO’s $892B. Of that $75B difference, three-quarters is due to 5 future programs. Frigates makes up another $9B of the difference (the lead ship is not yet complete) and 9 other ships share the remaining $9B (just 2% difference on average).
Something tells me there is a difference of opinion either on inflation estimates or, more likely, lead-ship costs. See the figure below.
One big assumption seems to be the longevity of the Littoral Combat Ship. Though no more LCSs are in the pipeline to be built, the plan is to keep nearly 35 in operations until 2040 and the last LCS will be retired in 2049.
The Navy’s small surface combatant force today includes 23 littoral combat ships; the Navy also operates 8 mine countermeasures ships, which it sometimes includes in the small surface combatant category. There are 12 more littoral combat ships and 2 new Constellation class FFG-62 guided missile frigates currently under construction. Under the December 2020 plan, the service would purchase 25 more frigates for a total of 27.
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