The Navy's 2008 Shipbuilding Plan and Key Ship Programs
Abstract
In response to a Congressional mandate, the Department of the Navy recently began issuing annual reports that describe its 30-year plans for ship construction. In the report released last year, the Navy presented a plan to expand its battle force fleet from 285 ships in 2006 to 313 ships over the long run. That plan, which was consistent with the Navy's proposed budget for fiscal year 2007, reflected the department's view of its future naval requirements and the types of ships needed to meet those requirements. In May 2006, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued a study analyzing that plan and estimating its potential costs. The Navy has since updated its long-term shipbuilding plan for fiscal year 2008. The current plan resembles the previous one in that it envisions a 313-ship fleet, but the timing and size of purchases have changed for several categories of ships. The most important difference is that the total number of ships that the Navy hopes to buy over 30 years has grown from 280 to 293 (see Table 1). That 13-ship increase mainly reflects two factors: * An acceleration in the building of certain ships, such as the DDG(X), which is intended to replace today's Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyers; and * A shift in the time period under consideration (the Navy intends to buy more ships in 2037 than in 2007, so moving from a 2007-2036 planning window to a 2008-2037 window increases the number of vessels bought over 30 years).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 24, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA470155
Entities
People
- Eric J. Labs
- J. M. Gilmore
Organizations
- Congressional Budget Office