14.06.2006, 00:16
Zitat:Options for the Navy's Future FleetQuelle: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/72xx/doc7232/05-31-Navy.pdf">http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/72xx/doc7232/05-31-Navy.pdf</a><!-- m -->
Released May 31, 2006
Since 2000, the US Navy has spent an average of about $43 billion a year to buy and operate its fleet of 285 battle force ships and 4,000 aircraft. In the new 30-year shipbuilding plan released in February, the Navy argues that it needs 313 ships to perform all of its missions, but increasing and modernizing ships and aircraft as implied by that plan would cost an average of about $53 billion annually over the next three decades, CBO estimates.
If the Navy ends up not receiving any increases in funding other than for inflation, how big and how capable can the fleet be in future years?
CBO constructed five alternative approaches to modernization that would cost roughly the same average amount annually as the Navy has spent in the past six years. The first option would make across-the- board cuts to the fleet to fit within recent spending levels. The other four options would emphasize one of the following: surface combatants, submarines, aircraft carriers, or amphibious warfare and maritime pre-positioning ships.
The main conclusion of CBO’s analysis is that unless shipbuilding budgets increase significantly in real (inflation-adjusted) terms or the Navy designs and builds much cheaper ships, the size of the fleet will fall substantially.