Navy Aegis Cruiser and Destroyer Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress

Ronald O'Rourke
Specialist in Naval Affairs

The Navy has begun a program to modernize its 22 in-service Aegis cruisers and the 62 Aegis destroyers procured in FY2005 and prior years. Under Navy plans, the modernization of these 84 ships would occur over a period of more than 20 years. The program's estimated total cost is about $16.6 billion in constant FY2010 dollars. The modernizations are intended to ensure that the ships can be operated cost-effectively throughout their entire 35- or 40-year intended service lives. The modernizations of all 62 destroyers and at least 10 of the cruisers are to include the installation of a capability for conducting ballistic missile defense (BMD) operations.

The Aegis cruiser and destroyer modernization program poses several potential oversight issues for Congress, including the Navy's overall vision behind the program, which shipyards should be used to perform the modernizations, the potential for expanding the scope of work performed in the modernizations, and the Navy's strategy for moving to an open architecture (OA) version of the Aegis combat system. In addition, some observers are concerned that demands from U.S. regional military commanders for BMD-capable Aegis ships are growing faster than the number of BMD-capable Aegis ships. One option for addressing this concern would be to accelerate the Aegis destroyer modernization schedule, so as to get more BMD-capable DDG-51s into the fleet sooner.

The Navy's proposed FY2011 budget requests funding for one Aegis cruiser modernization availability, three Aegis destroyer modernization availabilities, and long lead-time procurement of equipment for three additional Aegis cruiser modernizations and five additional Aegis destroyer modernizations. The funding request includes, among other things, $357.0 million in Other Procurement, Navy (OPN) funding for Aegis cruiser modernization and $296.7 million in OPN funding for Aegis destroyer modernization.


Date of Report: May 28, 2010
Number of Pages: 10
Order Number: RS22595
Price: $29.95

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