The CBO says 15 planned nuclear-powered surface combatants would sharply raise Navy procurement spending and test U.S. shipyard capacity as major programs already face delays and overruns.
President Trump’s proposed new class of U.S. Navy battleships, part of his “Golden Fleet,” would cost about $275 billion to build, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis that also raises doubts about whether U.S. shipyards can deliver the vessels alongside existing naval programs. The CBO said the first of 15 planned nuclear-powered surface combatants would cost $23.4 billion and subsequent ships about $18 billion each, placing them near the Navy’s Ford-class aircraft carriers among the most expensive warships ever built. The Navy said in its 2027 shipbuilding plan released in May that it aims to acquire the 35,000-ton ships between 2028 and 2056. The report said the latest estimate marks a sharp increase from earlier projections of $15.1 billion for the lead ship and $10.2 billion for the second and third ships, noting the original estimate assumed conventional rather than nuclear propulsion. The battleships would also drive the Navy’s procurement budget for surface combatants including destroyers and frigates up by more than two-thirds, from $11 billion in 2025 to $18 billion in 2027, the CBO said. The analysis lands as the Navy continues to struggle with schedule slippage and cost overruns. Then-Navy Secretary John Phelan told Congress in 2025 that the Navy’s best shipbuilding program was six months behind schedule and 57% over budget, saying, “All of our programs are a mess.” The CBO said Bath Iron Works and Ingalls Shipbuilding, the two yards that have built U.S. surface combatants for decades, are both facing challenges building destroyers on time, with Arleigh Burke-class deliveries delayed by an average of five years, and that neither yard has the capacity to build nuclear-powered ships. Navy officials have said final assembly would go to Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia, which already builds aircraft carriers and some submarines, but the CBO said adding a new battleship class there could put further strain on programs that are already delayed. The report also highlighted a steep learning curve for designing and producing the first ship of a new class. Analysts have also questioned the strategic logic of concentrating so much firepower and so many sailors on a handful of large ships at a time when drones, hypersonic missiles, submarines and cyberweapons are becoming more important in naval warfare.