Defense Budget
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Report
A Historical Survey of Ship Reactivations
May 14, 2018The Navy could use several approaches to increase the size of its fleet. This report focuses on reactivating decommissioned ships, drawing insights from past experiences that might inform lawmakers’ decisions about reactivating ships.
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How CBO Estimates the Cost of New Ships
April 27, 2018CBO regularly analyzes the Navy’s shipbuilding programs and produces its own estimates of the costs of new ships. CBO’s method relies on historical experience, with adjustments for rate, learning, acquisition strategy, and economic factors.
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Comparing a 355-Ship Fleet With Smaller Naval Forces
March 14, 2018CBO estimates that the costs of achieving a 355-ship Navy under two different approaches would average over $100 billion annually through 2047. Those scenarios are compared with two others that would cost less and involve a smaller fleet.
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The Depot-Level Maintenance of DoD's Combat Aircraft: Insights for the F-35
February 16, 2018This report examines the depot-level maintenance experiences of aging combat aircraft currently in use by DoD and provides insights for the Congress and DoD to consider as the F-35 fleet enters service.
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Analysis of the Long-Term Costs of the Administration’s Goals for the Military
December 4, 2017CBO estimates that inflation-adjusted costs for the Department of Defense would climb from the $575 billion requested in 2018 to $688 billion in 2027 if DoD pursued goals that Administration officials have articulated for the military.
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Approaches for Managing the Costs of U.S. Nuclear Forces, 2017 to 2046
October 31, 2017CBO estimates that the Obama Administration’s 2017 plans for nuclear forces would cost $1.2 trillion (in 2017 dollars) over the 2017–2046 period. CBO analyzed nine options that would reduce those costs or delay some of them.
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Trends in the Department of Defense’s Support Costs
October 4, 2017Funding for support functions consumes more of the defense budget today than it did in the 1980s, CBO finds. The largest increases were in health care, DoD management, communications infrastructure, and the science and technology program.
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An Analysis of the Obama Administration’s Final Future Years Defense Program
April 6, 2017The Obama Administration’s final defense plan called for base-budget funding averaging $540 billion (in 2017 dollars) from 2017 through 2021, but it would have reached almost $600 billion per year by 2032 under DoD’s cost assumptions.
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An Analysis of the Navy’s Fiscal Year 2017 Shipbuilding Plan
February 21, 2017CBO estimates that the cost of the Navy’s 2017 shipbuilding plan—an average of about $21 billion per year (in 2016 dollars) over 30 years—would be $5 billion higher than the average funding that the Navy has received in recent decades.
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Projected Costs of U.S. Nuclear Forces, 2017 to 2026
February 14, 2017CBO estimates that existing plans for U.S. nuclear forces would cost $400 billion over the 2017–2026 period—$52 billion more than CBO’s 2015 estimate for the 2015–2024 period, largely because modernization programs will be ramping up.
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Trends in Spending by the Department of Defense for Operation and Maintenance
January 5, 2017O&M costs grew by almost 50 percent between 2000 and 2012, after adjusting for inflation. Much of that growth was in spending for health care, civilian pay, and contracted professional and maintenance services.
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Long-Term Implications of the 2016 Future Years Defense Program
January 14, 2016The Department of Defense’s five-year plan calls for budgets averaging $534 billion (in 2016 dollars) from 2016 through 2020, but they would average $565 billion per year from 2021 through 2030 under the department’s cost assumptions.
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Report
Replacing Military Personnel in Support Positions With Civilian Employees
December 2, 2015The Defense Department could cut federal costs by replacing some military personnel in support positions with civilian employees. If DoD replaced 80,000 military personnel, it could eventually save $3.1 billion to $5.7 billion annually.
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Preserving the Navy’s Forward Presence With a Smaller Fleet
March 13, 2015The Navy can sustain its forward presence under smaller shipbuilding budgets by using longer deployments, more overseas basing, and more rotating crews. But those methods would offset some of the savings and have other disadvantages.
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Growth in DoD's Budget From 2000 to 2014
November 20, 2014The Department of Defense’s base budget increased by 31 percent (adjusted for inflation) between 2000 and 2014, mainly because of higher costs for military personnel and operation and maintenance.
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Approaches to Reducing Federal Spending on Military Health Care
January 16, 2014Between 2000 and 2012, the cost of providing health care to service members, retirees, and their families increased by 130 percent (after adjusting for inflation). What approaches might curtail the growth in those costs?
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Approaches for Scaling Back the Defense Department’s Budget Plans
March 18, 2013The costs of the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) budget plans through 2021 would be much higher than the funding permitted under the Budget Control Act’s statutory caps. CBO examined four options to cut back on DoD’s forces and activities.
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Costs of Military Pay and Benefits in the Defense Budget
November 14, 2012For fiscal year 2013, the Department of Defense (DoD) requested about $150 billion to fund the pay and benefits of current and retired members of the military. That amount is more than one-quarter of DoD’s total base budget request.
