WASHINGTON — A Pentagon request for $1.85 billion in reconciliation funding could be used not just to study whether foreign shipbuilders could construct a warship for the US Navy, but also to begin bankrolling the first vessel built in Japan or South Korea, an Office of Management and Budget official told Breaking Defense.
The money in question is a request for an upcoming reconciliation bill to include $1.85 billion in Navy research and development funds that would be used on “two separate study and procurement efforts” aimed at investigating the ability of allied shipbuilders to build future cruisers, destroyers and frigates, according to an overview of the Pentagon’s mandatory funding request.
“The fact is, no one spends $1.85 billion studying something. That money is there for procurement of assets,” an OMB official told Breaking Defense in an interview. “The OMB director has made that clear, I’m making it clear. We’re here to seriously look at procuring assets sooner rather than later.”
“In the case of frigates, that would purchase an entire frigate, depending on who the manufacturer is,” the official said. “And even with regard to cruisers or destroyers, … if you look at the average cost of destroyer construction in Japan and Korea, $1 billion is a fairly nominal cost associated with destroyer construction.”
