WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US Navy’s plan to build a 355-ship fleet in the next 30 years will cost $26.6 billion per year, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said in a report released on Monday.
"CBO estimates that, over the next 30 years, meeting the 355-ship objective would cost the Navy an average of about $26.6 billion (in 2017 dollars) annually for ship construction," the report stated.
The cost of $26.6 billion per year is 60 percent more than the average amount Congress appropriated in the last 30 years and 40 percent more than what it appropriated in 2016, the report stated.
In December 2016, the Navy released a structure assessment that called for increasing its fleet from 275 ships to 355 ships.
Trump's 2017 budget request asks Congress to provide an additional $24.9 billion to finance immediate warfighting readiness needs in fiscal year 2017 and $5.1 billion for overseas contingency operations.
Overall, the White House proposes a $54 billion increase in defense spending.
