Options for Funding Aircraft Carriers
Abstract
For over 40 years, Congress has funded the construction of U.S. Navy ships by appropriating enough money to pay for the entire construction project in the initial year of construction. This "full-funding" practice was undertaken to ensure that Congress was aware of the total cost of a project before it was begun and that one Congress would not bequeath to subsequent ones a choice between further appropriations and midcourse cancellation. The Navy begins construction of a new aircraft carrier every fourth or fifth year (on average), and the fully funded cost of a carrier can rep- resent a quarter or more of the total Navy shipbuilding budget. Because federal revenues do not increase by the cost of a carrier every fourth or fifth year, appropriating money for a carrier usually means reducing appropriations for something else that year for other shipbuilding efforts, other Navy programs, spending elsewhere in the Department of Defense (DoD), or outside DoD.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA409004
Entities
People
- Giles Smith
- Irv Blickstein
- James Chiesa
- John Birkier
- John F. Schank
Organizations
- RAND Corporation