The Defense Department’s cost estimates for the acquisition of major weapons platforms rose from $1.74 trillion to $1.92 trillion in 2017, Defense News reported Tuesday.The figure represents a 10 percent increase from the previous year’s projections, according to the annual Selected Acquisition Reports on 83 major defense procurement initiatives that DoD issued Tuesday.
The Pentagon’s cost estimates for the F-35 fighter aircraft procurement dropped by approximately $350 million to about $406.1 billion as of December 2017.
The Missile Defense Agency saw a $7.2 billion rise in estimated costs for the Ballistic Missile Defense System due to capability increases such as the addition of 20 ground-based interceptors and silos at Fort Greely in Alaska as well as new radars for Hawaii and the Pacific theater, the report noted.
DoD also increased its projected costs for several U.S. Army programs such as the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System/GMLRS Alternative Warhead; Joint Light Tactical Vehicle; and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement, according to the document.
The estimated program costs for the Army’s Warfighter Information Network-Tactical Increment 2 decreased from $12.3 billion to $4.5 billion.
Several U.S. Navy programs also saw increases in cost estimates and those include the Gerald R. Ford-class nuclear aircraft carrier (CVN 78); Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer (DDG 51); and the P-8A Poseidon aircraft.
Projected costs for the U.S. Air Force’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program declined by 3.4 percent to $57.2 billion, while the service’s Joint Direct Attack Munition rose by nearly 12 percent to $11.4 billion.
DoD also raised its cost estimates for the Air Force’s Next Generation Operational Control System and Military GPS User Equipment increment 1 programs.
