Next-Gen US Missile Submarine Sees a $1.7 Billion Cost Hike

The Navy raised the estimated price tag for the first of its next-generation nuclear-missile submarines by $1.7 billion, another black eye for a program that’s the centerpiece of the service’s modernization plans.

The USS District of Columbia is now expected to cost at least $16.1 billion, 12% more than forecast when Congress first authorized construction funds in 2021, the Naval Sea Systems Command said in a statement.

Sixty percent of the cost growth is driven by inflation in materials and labor costs, with the rest attributed to “shipbuilder performance” by General Dynamics Corp. and HII, the service said.

The ...