Future naval ship procurement : a case study of the Navy's next-generation destroyer

Abstract

Cost growth and inefficiencies are a serious problem in almost all major U.S. defense procurement programs, and have existed for many years despite repeated efforts to control them. These problems are particularly virulent in the design and acquisition of new naval warships. If the Navy cannot bring its costs under control, it will not be able to afford the capabilities it needs to execute the nation's national security. Several factors influence the cost growth of weapons procurement programs. Intentionally low estimates can help convince Congress to commit to programs that are actually very expensive. Bureaucratic politics can cause the Navy to spend money on superfluous features unjustified by strategic requirements. Private industry can push new, expensive technology on the Navy. Members of Congress can include pork-barrel provisions to bring more money to their constituents, often without national interest justifications. This thesis evaluates the development of the DDG 1000, the Navy's next-generation destroyer, and the dramatic change that occurred to the design of that ship during its development. Based on that analysis, it makes recommendations for the future of the DDG 1000 and for naval ship procurement more generally.

(cont.) The thesis finds that though a new ship was justified in the post-Cold War world, the actual design of that ship was determined by bureaucratic politics and the ship's procurement plan was determined by pork-barrel politics, neither of which properly served the nation's strategic interests. The thesis recommends that the DDG 1000 be used solely as a technology demonstration platform, reducing procurement spending while salvaging its technological advances; that the DDG 1000 be procured from a single shipyard; that the Navy design a smaller and cheaper warship to serve the needs of the future fleet; and that the nation implement specific measures to reduce the influence of bureaucratic politics and pork barrel politics on resource allocation and procurement.