Columbia Class SSBN 826

The Navy expects to award a contract for the lead Columbia-class platform (SSBN 826) by late 2020. The only problem is that our Navy is unclear on what it is buying or how much it will cost. The Navy's goal is 83 percent design maturity by the time it awards the contract...the GAO is expressing skepticism. Our submarine builders are good but are unlikely to meet expected cost or schedule goals within existing capacity.