The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said in a Dec. 15 report that new shipbuilding from 2015 through 2044 will cost an average of $21 billion more per year than recent funding amounts. The Navy plans to buy 264 ships during that time frame – 218 combat vessels and 46 logistics and support vessels. By the Navy’s 2015 estimates, new ships would cost $500 billion during the 30-year span – an average of $16.7 per year. Noting that the Navy figures account for building the new ships only, CBO stated that other activities would increase the price tag. For instance, refueling nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and outfitting new ships with new small equipment after they have been built would add another $1.9 billion annually, according to CBO. As such, CBO pegs new shipbuilding costs during the time span at closer to $566 billion. CBO attributes the discrepancy to “different estimating methods and assumptions regarding the designs and capabilities of future ships.”