The Navy's public shipyards will take more decades to repair, GAO says

The U.S. Navy's programme to modernise its four public shipyards could cost more than $200 billion and take about 50 years, according to the Government Accountability Office. Launched in 2018 with an initial estimate near $21 billion over 20 years, the effort covers Norfolk, Portsmouth, Puget Sound and Pearl Harbor, which maintain nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers. Costs and schedules grew as planners confronted underestimated engineering complexity, added projects and requirements such as major seismic work at Puget Sound. The GAO recommended standard, consolidated annual reporting to Congress on scope, spending, schedules and performance.