The price tag for the first two new Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines “significantly” exceeds their projected cost, Congress’s audit agency said, complicating the Trump administration’s goals for its Navy fleet.
The Government Accountability Office made the assessment Wednesday in its annual report that updates Congress and the public on the Pentagon’s weapons portfolio.
The assessment spotlights risks to the Navy’s top weapons priority at a time when the Trump administration is looking to build up the US fleet significantly to counter China’s while also cutting department costs. The new details also underscore that the second leg of the US nuclear ...