The Congressional Budget Office has said the U.S. Navy’s plan to increase its combat fleet size to 355 ships under the first two alternatives would cost an average of $103 billion to $104 billion in 2017 dollars a year over the next three decades.
CBO said Wednesday the Navy would meet its 355-ship goal through the construction of more vessels in the next 20 years under the first alternative that includes 12 aircraft carriers, 12 ballistic missile submarines, 68 attack submarines and 104 large surface combatants by 2037.
Under the second alternative, the service would need to spend an average of $104Â billion per year through 2047 and could attain its target fleet size by 2028 through service life extension programs and use of a new-ship construction schedule.
CBO estimated that the military branch would need to spend an average of $91Â billion each year over the next 30 years to maintain a fleet of 280 ships similar to the current fleet size and composition under the third alternative.
The fourth alternative would cost the Navy an average of $82 billion annually over the next three decades with a fleet size of 230 ships constrained to historical funding levels.
The Navy would need to spend an average of $26.7 billion in 2017 dollars per year to meet its 355-ship target by solely using the new-ship construction model, according to the report.
CBO’s report showed that Navy’s annual operating costs for a 355-ship size by 2047 would be 68 percent higher than the costs the service spends each year to operate today’s fleet of 280 ships.
