A Congressional Budget Office report estimates that the U.S. Navy’s total budget would increase to approximately $290 billion by 2052, up from the current $220 billion, as the fleet size expands to between 282 and 340 aircraft carriers, ballistic missile submarines and other battle force ships under the three alternatives in the service’s fiscal year 2023 shipbuilding plan.
CBO said Wednesday the Navy estimates that new ship construction under the alternatives in its 2023 plan would cost between $23 billion and $25.4 billion on average per year.
According to the report, the military branch would see the number of total missile cells reduced by 13 percent by 2031 before increasing by 6 percent over the next three decades under alternatives 1 and 2 and by 19 percent under alternative 3.
CBO estimates that the Navy’s total number of ships and submarines that could launch missiles would drop by 5 percent in 2026 before rising by 23 percent under alternative 1, 30 percent under alternative 2 and 36 percent under alternative 3 by 2052.
The office said keeping a force of 31 large and midsize amphibious warfare ships as mandated in the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act would require the service to make changes to ship procurement and retirements.
“Ship purchases would need to increase by 65 percent to 130 percent compared with the alternatives in the Navy’s 2023 plan,” the CBO report reads.
