Budget officials: Navy’s 30-year shipbuilding plan underfunded by $94 billion

By Cristina Silva

Stars and Stripes

Published: July 30, 2012

In this 2009 file photo, the Office of Naval Research E-Craft, an experimental high-speed transformable hull form vessel, is under construction at Alaska Ship and Drydock in Ketchikan, Alaska.

Courtesy U.S. Navy

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — The Navy’s most recent 30-year construction plan underestimates the cost of growing and maintaining its fleet by more than $3 billion annually over the next three decades, according to a recent analysis by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
According to the report, the Navy faces a $94 billion funding gap from 2013 through 2042 as it looks to build roughly 268 ships for its aging inventory.
The potential budget shortfall represents the latest financial hurdle for the Navy, which according to its own figures, expects to see its budget cut by $1.4 billion, to $156 billion, in the coming fiscal year. As a result, the Navy has sharply reduced its shipbuilding expectations.

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