NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.–The Ohio-class replacement program has been working through multiple levels, from the nuclear reactors to the strategic systems and construction of the ships, to mitigate the impact of sequestration and stay on schedule, the Navy’s program manager for the SSBN(X) said yesterday.
Capt. Bill Brougham said he believes the construction start of the first ship of the next generation of ballistic missile submarines will remain on track for 2021, despite the across the board budget cuts that took effect March 1, as Congress was unable to overcome the long running budget stalemate.
“There’s no caveats,” he said at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space exposition just outside Washington. “The lead ship is still on track to start in 2021.”
The Navy had announced last year it was delaying the construction of the first ship by two years to cope with budget constraints and to allow the design to mature. Brougham said he expects there will not be additional delays because of sequestration.
Brougham said his office worked through the various areas of the program to identify priorities and coordinated it throughout the Navy and with industry teams to be sure everyone was on the same page. He said he submitted plans to the Navy’s leadership that would mitigate the impact into 2015 in the event Congress does not find a way to lift sequestration.
Brougham told reporters he prepared for an approximate 10 percent cut, but the actual number came in lower than anticipated.
“We prepared for it to be a certain number,” he said. “It came in as less. We’re in better shape but we’re still impacted.”
The Navy plans to build 12 of the SSBN(X)s to replace the current fleet of 14 Ohio-class boomers. The program is expected to place a huge burden on the Navy’s shipbuilding budget throughout the 2020s and the service has been working to drive down the cost of the massive submarines.
Brougham said the Navy is doing a detailed analysis in an attempt to lower the estimated construction cost of the first ship. The Navy said the lead vessel’s estimated cost is $11.3 billion, a figure that includes the design and engineering cost in addition to the $6.8 billion construction estimate. The goal is to trim the construction cost to $6.2 billion.
Brougham said the service now believes it can lower the construction cost for the subsequent 11 to an average of $4.9 billion per vessel. That is down from previous estimates of $5.6 and $5.4 billion, he said. Those figures are based on the value of the dollar in 2010.