GAO Report Suggests DoD, Like NNSA, Underestimating Modernization Costs

The Department of Defense has underestimated the amount of money it will cost to modernize its nuclear forces over the next 10 years, according to a Government Accountability Office report that echoes similar findings about the NNSA. In December, the GAO highlighted shortcomings with NNSA budget estimates, noting that the costs of a new cruise missile warhead and an interoperable warhead were not fully included in the projections, and it said the Pentagon’s $125.5 billion estimate for modernizing its nuclear delivery vehicles didn’t account for plans to modernize the Air Force’s fleet of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles or to develop a new nuclear bomber.“Consequently, DOD may be significantly underreporting its 10-year estimate, depending on the magnitude of the costs resulting from upcoming decisions about how to modernize these delivery systems,” the GAO said.

The GAO previously urged the NNSA to include a range of cost estimates for warhead life extension efforts and construction projects that are considered preliminary, and it urged the Department of Defense to do the same. “Key principles that GAO derived from federal budget guidance stress the importance of including all relevant funding estimates in the plan, as well as documenting methodological assumptions and potential limitations,” the GAO said.