I Knew Zumwalt-class Destroyers Were Expensive, But

[unhappycamper]

$6.3 billion dollars for a target barge with a 57 mm popgun on the front seems a bit much. (As does a $40 billion dollar Ford-class aircraft carrier and $5~7 billion dollar submarines.)


http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d081061t.pdf

DDG 1000 Costs Likely to Exceed Budget

Costs of the DDG 1000 ships are likely to exceed current budgets. If costs grow during lead ship construction due to technology, design, and construction risks, as experience shows is likely, remaining funds may not be sufficient to buy key components and pay for other work not yet under contract.
Despite a significant investment in the lead ships, the remaining budget is likely insufficient to pay for all the effort necessary to make the ships operational. The Navy estimates a total shipbuilding budget of $6.3 billion for the lead ships. Of this amount, the Navy has approximately $363 million remaining in unobligated funds to cover its outstanding costs and to manage any cost growth for the two lead ships,2 but known obligations for the lead ships, assuming no cost growth during construction, range from $349 million to $852 million (see table 1).

FWIW, that's $6.3 billion dollars a pop, not $6.3 billion dollars for two.

[xchrom]

1. you'd think we didn't have a debt & deficit problem. nt

[n2doc]

2. If it was, say, a space telescope or a supercollider, they would have axed it due to cost overruns

But of course they won't since it is so much more useful to humanity.

[FBaggins]

3. There's a difference between "per ship" and "for the lead ship"

A Ford Escort would cost a ton too if they built only one and had to lay all of the design/development costs onto it.

The question is how much the tenth one costs.

This happens all the time when a new weapon system is canceled while in development. If you spend billions developing a new tank and then pull back the program after only the initial pilot models... each tank looks like it costs a billion dollars.

[Historic NY]

4. That the problem I have DOD & the contractors low ball weapons systems...

and then we get amazing cost overruns. I say if the project can't be delivered as signed off for then it should cost the contractor for every day it comes in late. There appears to be a on-going problem of budget discipline. Where's the penalty?? Its a racket.

[PoliticAverse]

5. This only cost 1.4 billion...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Oasis_of_the_Seas