US Navy's funding challenge

[WASHINGTON] The US Navy can't meet its funding needs for surface warships and a new class of nuclear attack submarines from 2025 to 2034, according to the service's latest 30-year shipbuilding plan. The blueprint says the Navy's plan "requires funding at an unsustainable level" unless spending on shipbuilding is increased. The document outlines challenges facing the plan to increase the Navy fleet to 306 vessels from the current 289 while building 12 new Ohio-class submarines.

The average cost of the Navy plan during the period when the service will be spending the most on the new submarine is US$19.7 billion a year, including more than US$24 billion at the peak year of fiscal 2032, according to the report. This budget "cannot be accommodated by the Navy from existing resources - particularly if" the Pentagon remains under congressionally mandated automatic cuts known as sequestration, the report said. - Bloomberg