Drift

Gerald R. Ford-class Carrier

CVN-78 · Navy · HII Newport News

+27% $10.5B (2008) → $13.3B (2017)
Gerald R. Ford-class Carrier: cost trajectory from $10.5B in 2008 to $13.3B in 2017, +27% growth. Explore CVN-78 interactively → Download 1-page brief (PDF)
Baseline
$10.5B (2008)
Current estimate
$13.3B (2017)
Cost growth
+27%
Units
—
Quantity change
—
Unit-cost change
—
IOC
2015 (planned) → 2017 (delivered)
Schedule slip
+2 yr
Cost basis
TY
Confidence
high · reconciled
LEAD-SHIP cost, not total program: ~$10.5B cap → $13.3B TY at delivery (+27%). Overrun driven by building immature tech into the first-of-class (EMALS, Advanced Arresting Gear, weapons elevators, dual-band radar). Baseline cap was later raised; anchor range $10.5–12.9B.

Source: CRS RS20643 (final procurement cost $13,316.5M then-year, at delivery) + GAO-17-575. FY2007 NDAA cost cap $10.5B for the lead ship. LEAD-SHIP procurement cost, not total-program acquisition.

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Drift — an independent project by Aous Abdo, built from public GAO, CRS and DoD sources. Cost growth has many causes; a larger number is not by itself evidence of mismanagement. How this is built · Explore the data →