Future naval ship procurement : a case study of the Navy's next-generation destroyer

Cost growth and inefficiencies are a serious problem in almost all major U.S. defense procurement programs, and have existed for many years despite repeated efforts to control them. These problems are particularly virulent in the design and acquisition of new naval warships. If the Navy cannot bring its costs under control, it will not be able to afford the capabilities it needs to execute the nation's national security. Several factors influence the cost growth of weapons procurement programs. Intentionally low estimates can help convince Congress to commit to programs that are actually very expensive. Bureaucratic politics can cause the Navy to spend money on superfluous features unjustified by strategic requirements. Private industry can push new, expensive technology on the Navy. Members of Congress can include pork-barrel provisions to bring more money to their constituents, often without national interest justifications. This thesis evaluates the development of the DDG 1000, the Navy's next-generation destroyer, and the dramatic change that occurred to the design of that ship during its development. Based on that analysis, it makes recommendations for the future of the DDG 1000 and for naval ship procurement more generally.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Jaglom, Peter Stampfl

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Cindy Williams.

• Technology and Policy Program.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34525

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/34525