Amy F. Woolf
Specialist in Nuclear Weapons Policy
Even though the United States plans to reduce the number of warheads
deployed on its longrange missiles and bombers, consistent with the terms
of the New START Treaty, it also plans to develop new delivery systems for
deployment over the next 20-30 years. The 113th Congress will continue to review these programs during the annual
authorization and appropriations process.
During the Cold War, the U.S. nuclear arsenal contained many types of delivery
vehicles for nuclear weapons. The longer-range systems, which included
long-range missiles based on U.S. territory, long-range missiles based on
submarines, and heavy bombers that could threaten Soviet targets from
their bases in the United States, are known as strategic nuclear delivery
vehicles. At the end of the Cold War, in 1991, the United States deployed
more than 10,000 warheads on these delivery vehicles. That number has
declined to less than 2,000 warheads today, and is slated to decline to
1,550 warheads by 2018, after the New START Treaty completes implementation.
At the present time, the U.S. land-based ballistic missile force (ICBMs)
consists of 450 Minuteman III ICBMs, each deployed with between one and
three warheads; they will all be reduced to only one warhead over the next
few years, and the fleet will decline to, at most, 420 missiles. The Air
Force is also modernizing the Minuteman missiles, replacing and upgrading their
rocket motors, guidance systems, and other components. The Air Force had
expected to begin replacing the Minuteman missiles around 2018, but
decided, instead, to continue to modernize and maintain the existing
missiles, so that they can remain in the force through 2030; it is, once
again, considering what to do to sustain the missiles after 2030.
The U.S. ballistic missile submarine fleet currently consists of 14 Trident
submarines; each carries 24 Trident II (D-5) missiles. The Navy converted
4 of the original 18 Trident submarines to carry non-nuclear cruise
missiles. The remaining submarines currently carry around 1,000 warheads
in total; that number will decline as the United States implements the New
START Treaty. The Navy has shifted the basing of the submarines, so that
nine are deployed in the Pacific Ocean and five are in the Atlantic, to
better cover targets in and around Asia. It also has undertaken efforts to
extend the life of the missiles and warheads so that they and the submarines can
remain in the fleet past 2020, and to begin design work on a new submarine.
The U.S. fleet of heavy bombers includes 19 B-2 bombers and 94 B-52 bombers.
The B-1 bomber is no longer equipped for nuclear missions. The fleet will
decline to around 60 aircraft in coming years, as the United States
implements New START. The Air Force has also begun to retire the
nuclear-armed cruise missiles carried by B-52 bombers, leaving only about half
the B- 52 fleet equipped to carry nuclear weapons. The Air Force plans to
procure both a new long-range bomber and a new cruise missile over the
next 20 years.
The Obama Administration is completing a review of the size and structure of
the U.S. nuclear force, and a review of U.S. nuclear employment policy, as
it implements the 2010 Nuclear Posture Review. It is also implementing the
New START Treaty with Russia that will limit the number of deployed
missiles and warheads in the U.S. strategic force. Congress will review the Administration’s
plans for U.S. strategic nuclear forces during the annual authorization and appropriations
process, and as it assesses U.S. plans under New START and possible future arms control
treaties with Russia. This report will be updated as needed.
Date of Report: October 22, 2013
Number of Pages: 40
Order Number: RL33640
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Ronald O'Rourke
Specialist in Naval Affairs
CVN-78, CVN-79, and CVN-80 are the first three ships in the Navy’s new
Gerald R. Ford (CVN- 78) class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers
(CVNs).
CVN-78 was procured in FY2008. The Navy’s proposed FY2014 budget estimates the
ship’s procurement cost at $12,829.3 million (i.e., about $12.8 billion)
in then-year dollars. The ship received advance procurement funding in FY2001-FY2007
and was fully funded in FY2008- FY2011 using congressionally authorized
four-year incremental funding. The Navy did not request any procurement
funding for the ship in FY2012 and FY2013. The Navy is requesting $588.1
million in procurement funding in FY2014, and plans to request another $729.0
million in procurement funding in FY2015, to cover cost growth on the
ship.
CVN-79 is scheduled to be procured in FY2013. The ship received advance
procurement funding in FY2007-FY2012, and the Navy plans to fully fund the
ship in FY2013-FY2018 using congressionally authorized six-year
incremental funding. The Navy’s proposed FY2014 budget estimates CVN-79’s
procurement cost at $11,338.4 million (i.e., about $11.3 billion) in then-year dollars,
and requests $944.9 million in procurement funding for the ship.
CVN-80 is scheduled to be procured in FY2018. The Navy’s proposed FY2014 budget
estimates the ship’s procurement cost at $13,874.2 million (i.e., about
$13.9 billion) in then-year dollars. Under the Navy’s proposed FY2014
budget, the ship is to receive advance procurement funding in
FY2016-FY2017 and be fully funded in FY2018-FY2023 using congressionally
authorized six-year incremental funding.
Oversight issues for Congress for the CVN-78 program include the following:
-
the impact on Navy shipbuilding programs of the March 1, 2013, sequester on FY2013
funding and unobligated prior-year funding;
-
the potential impact on Navy shipbuilding programs of a possible sequester
later this year or early next year on FY2014 funding and unobligated
prior-year funding;
-
cost growth in the CVN-78 program;
-
where the estimated procurement costs of CVNs 78, 79, and 80 now stand in relation
to the legislated procurement cost caps for the ships, and whether the cost
caps should be amended;
-
the potential for a two-ship block buy on CVN-79 and CVN-80; and
-
CVN-78 program issues that were raised in a December 2012 report from the Department
of Defense’s (DOD’s) Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E).
Date of Report: October 22, 2013
Number of Pages: 69
Order Number: RS20643
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Ronald O'Rourke
Specialist in Naval Affairs
The Navy’s proposed FY2014 budget requests
$1,083.7 million for continued research and development work on the Ohio
replacement program (ORP), a program to design and build a new class of 12
ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to replace the Navy’s current force of 14
Ohioclass SSBNs. The Ohio replacement program is also known as the SSBN(X)
program. On September 18, 2013, Admiral Jonathan Greenert, the Chief of
Naval Operations, testified that the Ohio replacement program “is the top
priority program for the Navy.”
Under the Navy’s FY2012 budget, the first Ohio replacement boat was scheduled
to be procured in FY2019, and Ohio replacement boats were to enter service
on a schedule that would maintain the Navy’s SSBN force at 12 boats. The
Navy’s FY2013 budget deferred the procurement of the first Ohio
replacement boat by two years, to FY2021. The Navy’s proposed FY2014 budget maintains
FY2021 as the procurement date for the lead boat. As a result of the deferment
of the procurement of the lead boat from FY2019 to FY2021, the Navy’s SSBN
force will drop to 11 or 10 boats for the period FY2029-FY2041. The Navy
says the decline to 11 or 10 boats during this period will be acceptable
in terms of meeting strategic nuclear deterrent mission requirements because
none of the 11 or 10 boats during that period will be encumbered by lengthy
maintenance actions.
The Navy in May 2013 estimated the procurement cost of the lead ship in the
program at $12.0 billion in constant 2013 dollars, including $4.6 billion
in detailed design and nonrecurring engineering (DD/NRE) costs for the
entire class, and $7.4 billion in construction costs for the ship itself.
The Navy in May 2013 estimated the average procurement cost of boats 2 through
12 in the Ohio replacement program at about $5.4 billion each in FY2010
dollars, and is working to reduce that figure to a target of $4.9 billion
each in FY2010 dollars. Even with this cost-reduction effort, observers
are concerned about the impact the Ohio replacement program will have on the Navy’s
ability to procure other types of ships at desired rates in the 2020s and early
2030s.
Potential oversight issues for Congress for the Ohio replacement program
include the following:
-
the impact on the program of the March 1, 2013, sequester on FY2013 funding and
unobligated prior-year funding for the program;
-
the potential impact on the program of a possible sequester later this year
or early next year on FY2014 funding and unobligated prior-year funding
for the program;
-
the likelihood that the Navy will be able to reduce the average procurement
cost of boats 2-12 in the program to the target figure of $4.9 billion
each in FY2010 dollars;
-
the accuracy of the Navy’s estimate of the procurement cost of each SSBN(X);
-
the prospective affordability of the Ohio replacement program and its
potential impact on funding available for other Navy shipbuilding
programs; and
-
the question of which shipyard or shipyards will build SSBN(X)s.
This report focuses on the Ohio replacement program as a Navy shipbuilding
program. CRS Report RL33640, U.S. Strategic Nuclear Forces: Background,Developments, and Issues, by Amy F. Woolf, discusses the
SSBN(X) as an element of future U.S. strategic nuclear forces in the context
of strategic nuclear arms control agreements.
Date of Report: October 22, 2013
Number of Pages: 53
Order Number: R41129
Price: $29.95
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