The Navy's New Battleship Program: Costs and Implications for the Shipbuilding Industrial Base
Report
CBO estimates that it would cost about $275 billion (in 2026 dollars) to build 15 of the Navy's new nuclear-powered battleships through 2056. The first ship would cost about $23 billion, and the next 14 ships would average $18 billion.
In this report, the Congressional Budget Office estimates the potential costs of the Navy's new nuclear-powered battleship procurement program. It also assesses how the new battleship and frigate programs outlined in the Navy's most recent shipbuilding plan would affect the shipbuilding industrial base. CBO's findings are as follows:
The total cost of the Navy's new nuclear-powered battleship program would be about $275 billion (in 2026 dollars) over the 2027–2056 period. The first ship would cost about $23 billion. For the 15 ships that would be purchased through 2056, the cost would average slightly more than $18 billion per ship.
Under the 2027 shipbuilding plan, compared with the 2025 plan, the Navy would purchase substantially more large surface combatants. The average annual amount of funding needed to buy surface combatants would rise by slightly more than two-thirds, from about $11 billion to $19 billion.
By 2035, the Navy's 2027 plan would more than double the tonnage of large surface combatants that shipbuilders would need to produce. Overall, the tonnage of large surface combatants to be constructed would need to increase by 60 percent, while the tonnage of small surface combatants would decrease by about 40 percent. Accommodating such a sizable increase in the production of large surface combatants could be a challenge for the shipbuilding industry.
On August 7, 2026, CBO reposted this report with a correction, which is described at the end of the document. The "Data Underlying Figures and Tables" file was also reposted to reflect that correction.
