CBO projects $380 billion cost to sustain Navy's current aviation fleet size

By Mallory Shelbourne / January 6, 2020 at 3:57 PM

The Navy will need to spend $380 billion in the next 30 years to sustain the size of today's aviation fleet, according to a new analysis from the Congressional Budget Office.

"The replacement of fighter/attack aircraft would represent the largest fraction of overall costs from 2020 through 2050, totaling about $190 billion, roughly half of the total for all aircraft," the report reads.

CBO notes the cost estimate for buying new aircraft is in 2018-year dollars.

According to the analysis, it would cost the service $11 billion each year between 2020 and 2030 to purchase new aircraft.

"Costs would drop temporarily after 2030 as several large programs -- the MV-22B tiltrotor, the CH-53K helicopter, and the F-35B/C fighters -- began to wind down or ended," the report continues, referring to the Marine Corps' Osprey, its heavy-lift helicopter and the two F-35 Joint Strike Fighter variants the Marine Corps and Navy are purchasing.

CBO estimates the cost of buying new aircraft between 2034 and 2050 at $14 billion each year.

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