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U.S. Nuclear-Armed Sub May Cost More Than Navy Says, GAO Warns

  • Congress will need an updated cost estimate of program costs
  • Navy officials likely to be grilled this week on new report
An artist rendering of the future Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine.

An artist rendering of the future Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine.

Source: U.S. Navy illustration

Updated on

The U.S. Navy may have to ask Congress to boost funding in fiscal 2021 to buy the first in its new 12-ship fleet of nuclear-armed submarines because of unreliable cost estimates, according to congressional auditors.

The service’s current procurement cost estimate and design goal are suspect and require updates before those dollars are approved, the Government Accountability Office said in a report issued Monday. The submarine also continues to have problems first identified in 2017 with the vessel’s power system.