Transforming the Navy's Surface Combatant Force

This Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study looks at the composition, missions, and modernization programs of the Navy’s surface combatant force as well as alterna tives to the Navy’s current approach to the force. As an alternative to the Navy’s current plans, this study examines three approaches for structuring surface com batant programs that would produce a larger and more capable force in 2025 than exists today but would limit average annual spending on procurement and direct operation and support costs to roughly the amount spent last year: $6.6 billion (in 2003 dollars). Those different approaches are:

• Retaining and modernizing ships that the Navy now plans to retire and buying a new frigate to provide pres ence, counter area-denial threats, conduct maritime interception operations, and carry out other missions.
• Retiring more ships earlier than the Navy plans while accelerating the introduction of new classes of surface combatants—but buying them in fewer numbers.
• Buying a much smaller number of new surface com batants than the Navy proposes but operating them with multiple crews to achieve a far higher rate of peacetime availability.

This report is intended for use by Congress and the U.S. Navy.