Overview
- The Congressional Budget Office released its estimate Wednesday and put the lead ship at about $23.4 billion and a 15‑ship program at roughly $275 billion.
- The Navy has confirmed the design will be nuclear‑powered using the Ford‑class reactor and plans the ships to carry a range of advanced systems including the nuclear sea‑launched cruise missile (SLCM‑N).
- CBO warns its figures are highly uncertain because they assume a 2028 lead‑ship order, purchase of 15 hulls, and final assembly concentrated at one yard, and historical lead ships often run over budget and behind schedule.
- The report says U.S. shipyards would need to more than double large surface‑combatant tonnage by 2035, which could strain Newport News, Bath Iron Works and Ingalls and squeeze carrier and submarine work.
- If built, the program would sharply raise annual surface‑combatant procurement outlays, force tradeoffs across the defense budget, and deepen a policy debate over expensive large flagships versus smaller, distributed and unmanned alternatives.