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The service projects that 18 of 20 new frigates will cost an average of $940 million each in inflation-adjusted dollars. The first two are estimated at about $1 billion each because of one-time costs.<\/p>\n
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But the Congressional Research Service alerted lawmakers this week to \u201ca potential issue\u201d worth reviewing: the accuracy of Navy cost estimates considering that \u201cships of the same general type and complexity that are built under similar production conditions\u201d tend to have similar \u2014 and substantially higher \u2014 costs per ton of displacement.<\/p>\n
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CRS raised a warning because, at 7,400 tons, the frigate to be built in Wisconsin by a unit of Italy\u2019s Fincantieri SpA is about three-fourths the size of an Arleigh Burke destroyer and carries many of the same weapons systems. The latest of the destroyers are estimated to cost $1.9 billion apiece.<\/p>\n
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That could put the cost for most of the frigates at as much as $1.47 billion each, \u201can increase of about 56%,\u201d based on comparing their tonnage to the destroyers\u2019, the research service said.<\/p>\n
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CRS suggested lawmakers ask the Navy the basis for \u201cits view that the frigate \u2014 a ship about three-quarters as large\u201d as the destroyer, with installed capabilities that are \u201cin many cases\u201d similar \u2014 \u201ccan be procured for about one-half the cost.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The frigate, to be equipped with guided missiles, is intended as a better-armed and more survivable successor to the Littoral Combat Ship, which detractors called the \u201cLittle\u00a0Crappy\u00a0Ship.\u201d Nonetheless, the Navy has 35 of them on contract.<\/p>\n
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At a confirmation hearing on Thursday, Kenneth Braithwaite, President Donald Trump\u2019s nominee for Navy secretary, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the administration\u2019s goal of a 355-ship fleet over the next decade, up from 299 today, should be a minimum and \u201chopefully we build beyond that\u201d despite budget constraints.<\/p>\n
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In written answers to the committee, Braithwaite said the future fleet should shift to fewer large surface platforms, more small surface combatants, a greater reliance on lightly manned or unmanned ships and \u201can ample submarine force.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Asked to comment on the CRS report, Captain Danny Hernandez, spokesman for the Navy\u2019s acquisition office, said the frigate is under \u201ca fixed price\u201d contract that \u201climits the government\u2019s risk in contract execution\u201d for any overruns. Hernandez said the Navy\u2019s cost estimate is 1% higher than a separate one completed by the Pentagon\u2019s independent analysis unit.<\/p>\n
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Fincantieri spokesman Eric Dent didn\u2019t have a comment on the CRS report.<\/p>\n
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The CRS suggested lawmakers review how much \u201cprocess improvements\u201d at Fincantieri\u2019s Wisconsin facility would permit frigates to be built in line with the Navy\u2019s cost estimate. One version of the Littoral Combat Ship, which experienced schedule delays before improving, continues to be built at the shipyard by Fincantieri and Lockheed Martin Corp. The first frigate is set to begin construction in 2022.<\/p>\n
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The Navy\u2019s cost estimate \u201csuggests a significant risk\u201d the frigate \u201cwill cost more than\u201d projected, said Bryan Clark, a former director of plans for the chief of naval operations and now a Hudson Institute naval analyst. That shouldn\u2019t be a surprise because the frigate \u201cincorporates almost all the same combat capabilities\u201d as the Arleigh Burke destroyer but with less capability, he said.<\/p>\n
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