Navy DDG-1000 Destroyer Program: Background, Oversight Issues, and Options for Congress

The Navy is procuring a new kind of destroyer called the DDG-1000. The ship was earlier called the DDX. Navy plans call for procuring a total of seven DDG-1000s. The first two were procured in FY2007 using split funding in FY2007 and FY2008. The Navy estimates their combined procurement cost at 6,325 million. This figure includes about 1.9 billion in detailed designnon-recurring engineering DDNRE costs for the entire DDG-1000 class. The Navy wants to procure the third DDG-1000 in FY2009 the Navy estimates its procurement cost at 2,653 million. The ship received 150 million in advance procurement funding in FY2008, and the Navys proposed FY2009 budget requests the remaining 2,503 million. The Navys proposed FY2009 budget also requests 51 million in advance procurement funding for the fourth DDG-1000, which the Navy wants to procure in FY2010. The House Armed Services Committee, in its report H.Rept. 110-652 of May 16, 2008 on the FY2009 defense authorization bill H.R. 5658, recommended reducing the Navys request for FY2009 DDG-1000 procurement funding from 2,503 million to zero, and increasing the Navys FY2009 request for DDG-1000 advance procurement funding from 51 million to 400 million. The report states that the 400 million is to be used either for construction of DDG-1000s or for restarting construction of Arleigh Burke DDG-51 class destroyers, which were last procured in FY2005. The Senate Armed Services Committee, in its report S.Rept. 110-335 of May 12, 2008 on the FY2009 defense authorization bill S. 3001, recommended approval of the Navys requests for FY2009 procurement and advance procurement funding for the DDG-1000 program. The DDG-1000 program raises several potential oversight issues for Congress, including the accuracy of Navy cost estimates for the program, program affordability and cost effectiveness, technical risk, and the programs potential implications for the shipbuilding industrial base.