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USN faces up to spiralling LCS costs
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08 March 2006
USN faces up to spiralling LCS costs
By Nick Brown, Jane’s Naval Desk Editor
Figures published in the US Navy's (USN's) budget justification for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) programme forecast that the costs per hull will increase substantially over the next two years.
Congress capped the programme's unit cost at USD220 million in 2005 but the USN's 2007 budget request for two hulls - released in late February 2006 - works out to just over USD260 million each.
Although substantial, this increased figure is still largely within the bounds set by Congress, which allows for inflation and certain additional costs needed to sustain the vessels' rapid development.
These additional costs cover logistics support, outfitting costs, improving survivability, mission module design and platform trials.
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