A January 2009 memorandum by John Young put the per-ship figure near six billion dollars, 81 percent above the Navy estimate. That breach triggered the Nunn-McCurdy process, requiring the program to be recertified and rejustified to Congress or cancelled. The comparison with the original 32-ship estimate was uneven because research costs were now spread across only three hulls. Britain's reduction from twelve Type 45 destroyers to six provides a parallel. Once development was paid, six additional hulls were estimated to have added far less than the reported average program cost. This example shows how quantity cuts inflate the quoted unit price.
Chapter · 38:08-40:51
How quantity cuts created the six-billion-dollar ship
The 2009 cost breach reflected development spending divided across three ships, part of a recurring spiral in which governments cut quantity and then blame rising unit cost.