The Congressional Budget Office estimates the first of a class of proposed battleships for the U.S. Navy will cost $10 billion more than a Ford-class aircraft carrier.
President Donald Trump announced the plan in December to build battleships as part of what he calls the “Golden Fleet.”
The design includes several weapons systems that have not been fully developed, including rail guns. Since the announcement, the Navy has said the ships will also be nuclear-powered. CBO points out that only Newport News Shipbuilding is set up to build nuclear-powered surface ships.
The company would have to use Dock 12, which is currently tied up for the next several years with plans to build the next three Ford-class aircraft carriers, all of which are already behind schedule.
Huntington Ingalls Industries is also expected to compete for the contracts to help with the design of the battleship. Design money is included in the administration’s proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget which is currently stalled in Congress.
All U.S. aircraft carriers use nuclear power. The Navy hasn’t had a nuclear-powered surface ship, other than an aircraft carrier since the cruiser USS South Carolina was retired in 1999. The Navy hasn’t built a battleship since the end of World War II.
Trump announced that the first two ships would be built by the end of his term, but the CBO says construction is not expected to begin by 2028. Following the normal design and construction time for Navy ships, analysts say the first battleship may not actually hit the water until 2037 or 2039.
Trump wants 15 battleships. The costs are predicted to come down after the first ship, but each battleship is expected to cost at least $18 billion. The entire program would cost $275 billion.
In April, Trump fired the Navy Secretary John Phelan, who had been one of the program’s strongest proponents, further complicating the program.
