Report to Congress on Columbia-class Nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarine Program
September 11, 2020 8:40 AM
The following is the Sept. 8, 2020 Congressional Research Service report, Navy Columbia (SSBN-826) Class Ballistic Missile Submarine Program: Background and Issues for Congress.
From the report
The Columbia (SSBN-826) class program is a program to design and build a class of 12 new ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to replace the Navy’s current force of 14 aging Ohio-class SSBNs. The Navy has identified the Columbia-class program as the Navy’s top priority program. The Navy wants to procure the first Columbia-class boat in FY2021. Research and development work on the program has been underway for several years, and advance procurement (AP) funding for the first boat began in FY2017. The Navy’s proposed FY2021 budget requests $2,891.5 million (i.e., about $2.9 billion) in procurement funding, $1,123.2 million (i.e., about $1.1 billion) in advance procurement (AP) funding, and $397.3 million in research and development funding for the program.
The Navy’s FY2021 budget submission estimates the procurement cost of the first Columbia-class boat at $14,393.4 million (i.e., about $14.4 billion) in then-year dollars, including $6,007.8 million (i.e., about $6.0 billion) in costs for plans, meaning (essentially) the detail design/non-recurring engineering (DD/NRE) costs for the Columbia class. (It is a longstanding Navy budgetary practice to incorporate the DD/NRE costs for a new class of ship into the total procurement cost of the first ship in the class.) Excluding costs for plans, the estimated hands-on construction cost of the first ship is $8,385.7 million (i.e., about $8.4 billion). The boat has received $6,227.8 million (i.e., about $6.2 billion) in prior-year AP funding. The Navy’s proposed FY2021 budget requests $2,891.5 million in procurement funding, and the remaining $5,274.2 million (i.e., about $5.3 billion) in procurement funding needed to complete the boat’s total estimated procurement cost of $14,393.4 million is to be requested in FY2022 and FY2023.
https://news.usni.org/2020/09/11/report-to-congress-on-columbia-class-nuclear-ballistic-missile-submarine-program-8
