More Analysis Needed on Destroyer Plan says Pentagon

More Analysis Needed on Destroyer Plan says Pentagon (NSI News Source Info) November 1, 2008: Chief Pentagon arms buyer John Young said he still had questions on Thursday about the US Navy's decision to halt the DDG-1000 destroyer programme at three ships and build older model DDG-51 destroyers instead. "There's a substantial amount of additional analytical work to be done," Young told reporters at his Pentagon office.

DDG-1000 destroyer programme

Any move by the navy to build just a few more DDG-51 destroyers would be "very expensive," he said. The newer DDG-1000 hull offered some benefits, including a lower radar signature and quieter operation, over the older hull of the DDG-51s, he said. Young, who oversaw the DDG-1000 programme when he was the navy's acquisition chief, said he found the recent decision to back away from the new destroyer, which was to be the lead ship in a new class of destroyers, "a little unusual." The navy in July said it would halt the DDG-1000 programme after just two ships, instead of building seven as planned, but it later bowed to congressional pressure and said it would buy a third DDG-1000 ship. Citing changed military requirements, the navy said it would buy eight more DDG-51 ships and acknowledged restarting the line would incur additional costs. General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman are building the first two DDG-1000 destroyers, DDG-1000 and DDG-1001. Both also built the DDG-51 warship. Young held up the DDG-1000 programme as an example of a major weapons programme that has largely met its cost and schedule targets. The two lead ships were under contract for about $2.5bn each, with additional ships slated to cost about $2bn each, he said. When navy officials explained their decision to Congress in July, they said each of the first two DDG-1000 ships would cost $3.2bn, while it would cost about $2.2bn to buy the first of the new batch of DDG-51 warships. Young said the Navy had legitimate concerns about the cost of the DDG-1000 destroyers, but further analysis was needed, suggesting that additional efforts could be made to further lower the cost of the DDG-1000 destroyers. If the current decision stood, Young said it was clear that splitting work on three DDG-1000 ships between two shipyards "could be punitively expensive to the taxpayer," he said. Raytheon, which is working on the combat system for the destroyer, is fighting the navy decision. Lockheed Martin Corp built the combat system for the older model DDG-51 destroyers.