Stretch U.S. Sub-Buying Schedule: Analyst

A top Congressional analyst suggests one alternative to ease the effect of paying for the U.S. Navy's new missile submarine is to stretch the procurement schedule from 15 years to 19.

Ronald O'Rourke, naval analyst for the Congressional Research Service, wrote in a new report that stretching out the schedule would create more gaps between submarines, which would allow for greater use of split funding - the practice of paying for a ship in more than one year.

O'Rourke wrote that expanding the schedule would mean eight of the proposed 12 submarines could be paid for in two-, three- or four-year increments.

The Navy's current plan would allow that option for only five of the subs, O'Rourke wrote.

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