An unstable procurement drumbeat erodes cost and yard confidence

The procurement table repeatedly moves larger orders into future years while showing one ship procured annually from FY2020 through FY2023. Two more followed in FY2024, producing six orders against the nine in the earlier trajectory. The discussion then records no FY2025 order and the program's subsequent cancellation. The original industrial plan used a single builder, with a second yard considered particularly if procurement rose above two ships per year. The orders shown never sustained that rate. Changing promised quantities could also leave the existing builder uncertain whether further investment in its workforce and facilities would be rewarded. The comparison with Zumwalt concerns the effect of unstable quantities on production economics.