News / Military

US Navy plans to boost nuclear submarine spending to $5 billion by 2024

Tuesday, 07 May 2019 1:43 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 07 May 2019 1:48 PM ]

An artist rendering of the future Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine. (Photo by US Navy)

The US Navy plans to increase its yearly spending its next-generation nuclear missile submarine program by $5 billion by 2024, the Pentagon has said in a report sent to Congress.

According to the Navy's Selected Acquisition Report sent to Congress last month, the Navy plans to enhance funding for the program by $2 billion in fiscal 2021, and boost the funding surge by $5 billion by 2024, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.

The current level of funding for the program is about $2.3 billion, but the Navy will seek $4.3 billion in funding for the Columbia-class submarine program next year, according to Bloomberg.

The funding surge has accelerated under the administration of President Donald Trump to modernize and grow the size of the US nuclear submarine fleet. Trump has vowed to make the increase military spending.

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The Pentagon’s budget seeks to address China’s fast-paced achievements in military, space and other strategic technologies, something the US views as a threat to its national security.

According to the previously undisclosed document of the Pentagon, the Navy has made requests of $4.46 billion in fiscal 2022, $4.13 billion in fiscal 2023 and $5 billion in 2024.

It has been revealed that an estimated spending of $128 billion will be required to complete the project.

The Pentagon's Office of Inspector General announced last month that the sub program would be audited to “determine whether the Navy is managing the development” of the system to “ensure that it meets performance requirements without cost increases or schedule overruns.”

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