Modernizing the U.S. aircraft carrier fleet : accelerating CVN 21 production versus mid-life refueling / John Schank [et al.].

Format:

Book

Government document

Contributor:

National Defense Research Institute (U.S.)

Rand Corporation.

Schank, John F. (John Frederic), 1946-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Aircraft carriers--United States--Design and construction.

Aircraft carriers.

Sea-power--United States.

Sea-power.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxvi, 98 pages

Place of Publication:

Santa Monica, CA : RAND Corporation, 2005.

Summary:

As the Navy builds the last of its Nimitz-class carriers, it asked RAND to study the trade-offs involved in accelerating the production of its new CVN 21 carrier while hastening the retirement of some of the Nimitz fleet. What are the trade-offs involved in terms of cost, capability, and fleet size? RAND researchers looked at the Navy's existing plan and compared it with several alternatives and discovered that the Navy could modernize its fleet with the higher-performance, lower-cost CVN 21 at a cost premium no greater than 12 percent over its current plan. Allowing for the CVN's greater capability might permit the Navy to justify a smaller fleet size while it modernizes, and aggressive cost-cutting moves could reduce the cost premium significantly. The authors find no industrial base impediments to accelerating the program and conclude that the importance the Navy attaches to the increased fleet value premium should determine whether the increased cost is a good investment.

Contents:

Introduction

Fleet modernization options and their implications for fleet size and composition

Adequacy of the industrial base

Life-cycle cost analysis

Synthesis

Appendix. A. CVN 21 design and technology advances

B. Shipyard production labor demand by skill

C. How life-cycle cost elements were estimated.

Notes:

"National Defense Research Institute."

"Prepared for the United States Navy."

Title from title screen (viewed Sept. 12, 2006)