Explaining Analytical Methods
- Report
Acquisition Costs of the Navy’s Medium Landing Ship
CBO estimates that construction of 18 medium landing ships would cost between $6.2 billion and $7.8 billion in 2024 dollars. CBO’s estimates range from two to roughly three times the Navy’s current estimates.
- Report
The Shipbuilding Composite Index and Its Rates of Change Compared With Economywide Inflation Rates
Between 1980 and 2022, the shipbuilding composite index grew an average of 1.2 percentage points faster per year than the GDP deflator did. Looking ahead, a gap of roughly 1 percentage point would be consistent with historical experience.
- Report
How the Military’s Basic Allowance for Housing Compares With Civilian Housing Costs
CBO compares the housing standards used to determine the military’s basic allowance for housing (BAH) with the housing rented by comparable civilians. CBO also compares BAH rates with the rental costs paid by those civilians.
- Report
Income of Working-Age Veterans Receiving Disability Compensation
CBO compared the earnings, personal income, and household income of working-age male veterans who received disability payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs with those of veterans who did not receive such payments.
- Report
The Navy’s Costs to Eliminate Its Deferred Maintenance Backlog and to Renovate and Modernize Its Buildings
CBO estimates that eliminating the maintenance backlogs of roughly 20,000 buildings that the Navy uses and maintains in the United States would cost $17 billion. Renovating and modernizing the buildings would cost an additional $32 billion.
- Report
Availability and Use of F-35 Fighter Aircraft: An Update
CBO reexamines the availability and use of the Department of Defense’s F-35 fighter aircraft and presents new findings on availability rates, flying hours, and effects of aging.
- Report
U.S. Hypersonic Weapons and Alternatives
CBO analyzes the hypersonic missiles being developed by the U.S. military and compares them with less expensive existing or potential weapons that might fill similar roles, such as cruise missiles or ballistic missiles.
- Report
Statement for the Record Regarding How CBO Would Estimate the Effects of Future Authorizing Legislation on Spending From the Toxic Exposures Fund
CBO’s Director, Phillip Swagel, provides a written statement to the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs about how the agency would estimate the effects of future authorizing legislation on spending from the toxic exposures fund.
- Blog Post
CBO Releases an Improved Interactive Tool for Analyzing the Military’s Forces and Resources
The enhanced tool lets users change the defense budget to see the possible effects on military forces, or add or subtract major units to see the effects on the budget, or explore a mix of those approaches. It includes a how-to-use tutorial.
- Report
Availability and Use of F-35 Fighter Aircraft
CBO examines the availability and use of DoD’s F-35 fighter aircraft. This report includes findings about fleet sizes, availability rates, time spent in depot-level maintenance, flying hours, and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.