Cost of 3 stealthy destroyers grows by $450 million

BATH, Maine (AP) — The price tag for the most expensive destroyers ever built for the U.S. Navy is still growing.

Updated figures from the Congressional Research Service indicate the cost of three ships in the Zumwalt class has grown 3.7 percent, or $450 million, from last year. That lifts the total for the three ships to $12.74 billion.

The first-in-class Zumwalt that's under construction at Bath Iron Works has successfully completed builder trials, and it will undergo further sea trials later this month before delivery to the Navy. It's due to be commissioned in October.

The Navy wasn't overly alarmed by the revised cost estimates for the 600-foot ship. Capt. Thurraya Kent told the U.S. Naval Institute that the revised cost estimate is "well within the baseline."