Navy Ohio Replacement (SSBN[X]) Ballistic Missile Submarine Program: Background and Issues for Congress

Abstract

The Navy's proposed FY2013 budget requests $564.9 million for continued research and development work on the Ohio replacement program (ORP), a program to design and build a new class of 12 ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to replace the Navy's current force of 14 Ohio-class SSBNs. Under the Navy's FY2012 budget, the first Ohio replacement boat was scheduled to be procured in FY2019, and Ohio replacement boats were to enter service on a schedule that would maintain the Navy's SSBN force at 12 boats. The Navy's proposed FY2013 budget defers the procurement of the first Ohio replacement boat by two years, to FY2021. As a result of this deferment, the Navy's SSBN force will drop to 11 or 10 boats for the period FY2029-FY2041. The Navy in 2011 estimated the average procurement cost of boats 2 through 12 in the ORP at $5.6 billion each in FY2010 dollars, and is working to reduce that figure to a target of $4.9 billion each in FY2010 dollars. Even with this cost-reduction effort, observers are concerned about the impact the ORP will have on the Navy's ability to procure other types of ships at desired rates in the 2020s and early 2030s. Potential oversight issues for Congress for the ORP include the following: the reasons for deferring the start of SSBN(X) procurement by two years, to FY2021, the cost and operational impact of this decision, and whether it would be feasible and cost effective to restore the start of procurement to FY2019, as planned under the FY2012 budget; the plan to design the SSBN(X) with 16 SLBM tubes rather than 20; the likelihood that the Navy will be able to reduce the average procurement cost of boats 2-12 in the program to the target figure of $4.9 billion each in FY2010 dollars; the accuracy of the Navy's estimate of the procurement cost of each SSBN(X); the prospective affordability of the ORP and its potential impact on funding available for other Navy shipbuilding programs; and the question of which shipyards will build SSBN(X)s.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 14, 2013
Accession Number
ADA577936

Entities

People

  • Ronald O'Rourke

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Attack Submarines
  • Ballistic Missile Submarines
  • Ballistic Missiles
  • Boats
  • Fleet Ballistic Missiles
  • Marine Transportation
  • National Security
  • Naval Operations
  • Naval Vessels
  • Naval Warfare
  • Navy
  • Nuclear Powered Submarines
  • Nuclear Propulsion
  • Shipbuilding
  • Strategic Weapons
  • Submarine Warfare
  • United States Strategic Command

Readers

  • Maritime and Naval Warfare Studies
  • Public Financial Management and Budgeting