The cost of the three ships in the Navy’s Zumwalt-class (DDG-1000) has risen more than $2 billion over the last five years — $450 million in the last year alone, according to Navy budget data aggregated by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).
The now $12.069 billion Zumwalt program — as of the Fiscal Year 2015 budget — has seen a 17 percent cost increase for the three ships since a $9.993 estimate in the FY 2011 budget.Sean Stackley, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition (RDA), told USNI News in March the cost increase for the ships could be laid at the feet of schedule changes to accelerate deliverers of the ship and sequestration woes.
The DDG-1000 program was completely restructured in 2010 under the auspices of then Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. The Pentagon cut the total number of planned ships to three, the result of which tripped a so-called Nunn-McCurdy breach.
The Nunn-McCurdy provision is a US statute that requires military equipment cost increases of 25 per cent above the original estimate to be terminated save a review and certification process. The provision also calls for a congressional notification if a program cost increase more than 15 percent. The program was recertified with a reduction in radar capability and pushed the date the first ship would enter the fleet.
The Zumwalt-class began in the 1990s as a replacement for the naval surface fire support lost when the service decommissioned the four World War II Iowa-class battleships (BB-61) for the second time.
The almost 16,000 ton ships has two 155 mm Advanced Gun Systems that can fire a GPS guided rocket assisted round about 70 nautical miles. The ship also fields 128 Mk 57 Vertical Launch System (VLS) cells that can field a variety of missiles.
The first-in-class was christened at shipbuilder General Dynamics Bath Iron Works’ Maine shipyard on April 12.
source : news.usni.org
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