Trump-class battleship program will cost $275 billion, CBO report says

Overview

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the Navy's new Trump-class nuclear battleship program will cost approximately $275 billion over 28 years, with a first-ship price of $23.4 billion and 14 follow-on ships at about $18 billion each. The program calls for roughly one battleship every two years from 2028–2056 while keeping current destroyer production rates, creating a very large, multi-decade procurement opportunity for defense and shipbuilding contractors. CBO also warns that an estimated 60% increase in large surface combatant tonnage by 2058 could strain shipyard and supplier capacity, making early planning and industrial-base alignment critical. Contractors should act now to assess technical fit, industrial capacity, teaming prospects, and compliance scope because solicitations, RFIs, and follow-on policies from DOD, Navy and NAVSEA will follow and will shape capture strategies. Early capture work will improve chances to compete for prime, subcontract, and long-lead vendor roles while managing compliance obligations such as CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification), NIST 800-171 (NIST Special Publication 800-171), DFARS (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement), ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations), and CUI (Controlled Unclassified Information) handling.

See the Winning Federal Contracts Guide (/insights/winning-federal-contracts) for capture fundamentals and consult the CMMC Compliance Guide (/insights/cmmc-compliance-guide) and CUI-Safe CRM Guide (/insights/cui-safe-crm-guide) for security-specific preparation.

Immediate Actions (This Week)

• [ ] Monitor DOD, Navy, and NAVSEA channels for official solicitations, RFIs, sources-sought notices, or policy updates related to the battleship program; register alerts and assign ownership for incoming notices.
• [ ] Perform a rapid capability and capacity assessment: identify relevant in-house disciplines (shipbuilding, nuclear propulsion, combat systems, marine engineering, defense electronics) and flag gaps in facilities, skilled labor, and long-lead suppliers.
• [ ] Open capture outreach: contact current primes and known shipbuilding primes to express interest, document teaming preferences (prime, subcontractor, supplier), and collect intel on potential consortiums and teaming possibilities.

Short-Term Actions (30 Days)

• [ ] Conduct a compliance gap analysis mapped to the named regimes (CMMC, NIST 800-171, DFARS, ITAR, NIST 800-53, CUI) and create prioritized remediation steps for critical gaps (security plan, SSP/POA&M, export control processes).
• [ ] Build a 12–24 month capture plan: define win themes, target roles (prime/sub), draft initial staffing and facility plans for long-lead items, and identify key suppliers for hull production, nuclear systems, and combat systems.

Long-Term Actions (90+ Days)

• [ ] Execute industrial-base strategy: pursue capacity investments or partner agreements to address predicted tonnage and production-rate pressure, secure long-lead supplier commitments, and plan workforce growth or cross-hire strategies.
• [ ] Mature proposal and compliance artifacts: develop system security plans, export-control procedures, supplier flow-down templates, and maintain auditable records to support DFARS/CUI requirements and any required CMMC/NIST evidence.

Compliance Checklist

• [ ] CMMC — Perform a readiness assessment and prepare documentation to meet required controls (scope and level TBD by future solicitations).
• [ ] NIST 800-171 — Identify CUI in scope, prepare or update System Security Plan (SSP) and Plan of Action & Milestones (POA&M) for noncompliant controls.
• [ ] DFARS — Map applicable DFARS clauses affecting cybersecurity and CUI handling; prepare contract-flowdown language and supplier compliance verification steps.
• [ ] ITAR — Review export-control classification for systems and components; ensure registration and export-license processes are in place for controlled items.
• [ ] NIST 800-53 — If solicitations or systems require it, map higher-assurance control baselines and begin documentation and implementation planning.
• [ ] CUI Handling — Implement policies, training, and technical safeguards for identifying, marking, handling, and transmitting CUI across internal teams and supply chains.

Resources

• DOD / Navy / NAVSEA guidance and solicitations — monitor official DOD, Navy, and NAVSEA publication channels for program and contracting notices (TBD pending source review).
• Regulation texts and standards to monitor: DFARS, NIST 800-171, NIST 800-53, CMMC, ITAR (TBD pending source review).

How Cabrillo Club Automates This

• Cabrillo Signals War Room — Already detected this event and delivered this briefing within minutes. War Room continuously monitors DOD, Navy, NAVSEA, and other federal sources for new solicitations, policy changes, and contract-vehicle updates related to major programs like this battleship effort. It centralizes incoming RFIs/sources-sought and surfaces urgency and relevance flags so your capture leads see high-priority items immediately.
• Cabrillo Signals Match Engine — When the War Room flags this event, the Match Engine automatically rescoring your opportunity pipeline so opportunities tied to shipbuilding, naval systems, nuclear propulsion, and related NAICS alignments are reprioritized. Match scores, keyword relevance, and agency alignment update in real time, helping you focus capture resources on the roles and solicitations with the best fit.
• Cabrillo Signals Intelligence Hub — The Intelligence Hub tracks affected agencies, NAICS codes, and the contract vehicles you care about. Use saved searches and the Hub’s alerting to receive notifications when follow-on solicitations appear under vehicles like SeaPort-NxG and OASIS+, or when NAVSEA releases procurement guidance. Hub dashboards keep your program and capture teams aligned on status and next steps.
• Proposal Studio (Proposal OS) — Proposal Studio uses your past performance and capture inputs to generate compliance matrices, first-draft technical approaches, and win-theme content specifically targeted to large naval programs. It produces initial drafts of SSP/POA&M language and proposal sections referencing the compliance regimes named here, accelerating bid/no-bid decisions and first-draft proposal development.
• Proposal Studio Workflow Tracker — The Workflow Tracker enforces a 9-gate capture workflow from opportunity identification through post-submission. It routes compliance reviews to contracts and legal, tracks supplier and subcontractor certifications (ITAR, DFARS/CUI readiness), and assembles audit-ready documentation packages required for defense solicitations.

Explore these features in your Cabrillo Club console to automatically surface solicitations, rescore pipeline priorities, and accelerate compliant proposal production for this program.

Relevant reading: Winning Federal Contracts Guide (/insights/winning-federal-contracts), CMMC Compliance Guide (/insights/cmmc-compliance-guide), CUI-Safe CRM Guide (/insights/cui-safe-crm-guide)