The following is the Nov. 30, 2017 Congressional Research Service report, Navy DDG-51 and DDG-1000 Destroyer Programs: Background and Issues for Congress.
From the Report:
The Navy has been procuring Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) class Aegis destroyers since FY1985. The two DDG-51s requested for procurement in FY2018 are to be the 78th and 79th ships in the class.
DDG-51s procured in FY2013-FY2017 were procured under a multiyear procurement (MYP) contract. As part of its FY2018 budget submission, the Navy is requesting authority to use another MYP contract to procure DDG-51s in FY2018-FY2022. The Navy plans to shift in FY2016 or FY2017 to a new variant of the DDG-51, called the Flight III DDG-51, that is to incorporate a new and more capable radar called the Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) or the SPY-6 radar.
The Navy estimates the combined procurement cost of the two DDG-51s requested for procurement in FY2018 at $3,499.1 million. The Navy’s proposed FY2018 budget requests the following:
- $3,499.1 million in procurement funding to fully fund the procurement of the two DDG-51s requested for FY2018;
- $90.3 million in EOQ (economic order quantity) advance procurement (AP) funding for up-front batch orders of components for DDG-51s to be procured under the proposed DDG-51 MYP contract for FY2018-FY2022;
- $51.4 million in cost-to-complete procurement funding to cover cost growth on DDG-51s procured in prior fiscal years;
- $224.0 million in procurement funding to cover costs for building DDG-1000 class destroyers procured in prior fiscal years; and
- $32.1 million in research and development funding for the AMDR.
Issues for Congress for FY2018 for the DDG-51 and DDG-1000 destroyer programs include the following:
- whether to approve, reject, or modify the Navy’s requests for FY2018 procurement and research and development funding for the DDG-51 and DDG- 1000 programs;
- the impact of using a continuing resolution (CR) to fund DOD for the first few months of FY2018;
- whether to approve, reject, or modify the Navy’s request for authority for a new MYP contract for DDG-51s to be procured in FY2018-FY2022;
- whether to provide funding for the procurement in FY2018 of one or two additional DDG-51s (i.e., whether to provide funding for the procurement in FY2018 of a total of three or four DDG-51s);
- continued cost growth in the DDG-1000 program;
- cost, schedule, and technical risk in the Flight III DDG-51 effort; and
- the lack of an announced Navy roadmap for accomplishing three things in the cruiser-destroyer force: restoring ship growth margins; introducing large numbers of ships with integrated electric drive systems or other technologies that could provide ample electrical power for supporting future electrically powered weapons; and introducing technologies for substantially reducing ship operating and support (O&S) costs.
via fas.org