The Columbia-class submarine program -- the Navy's once-every-two-generations modernization project that commands an outsized portion of the service's investment resources -- is now estimated to cost $139 billion, $12 billion more than the Pentagon originally estimated. The new tally is contained in a Selected Acquisition Report for the Navy’s No. 1 modernization priority that cites higher inflation, challenges with maintaining a fast construction schedule, expanding the supplier base to avoid delays as well as investments in new production strategies to...
