Delete comment from: Elements Of Power
Relative costs weren't the focus of the post, but the relative cost risks and cost trends involved were. Also involved is the even more important question of what are the risks to satisfying identifed military needs for the dollars spent--i.e. the potential "value" returned from each path? The Burke hulls can only be expanded so much and the available space within them is less than the Zumwalts; the Zumwalt having about 13' more beam and a lot less space required for the engineering plant than even a hybridized system for a Flight III, not to mention a heck of a more robust power supply system with a larger margin for growth in the DDG-1000.
But since you asked, the scary numbers popping up for the Flight IIIs are in the $3B-$4B range (http://www.dodbuzz.com/2011/11/16/report-cost-spike-for-navys-next-ddgs/). THAT number is getting the Flight IIIs into DDG-1000 territory.
Mar 31, 2012, 11:14:12 PM
Posted to Cost Cutting Via Retirement of CG-47 Class Cruisers