WASHINGTON, July 20 (UPI) -- A technologically advanced series of destroyers being designed for the U.S. Navy may soon be canceled by the military branch, experts say.
Robert Work, a Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments defense analyst, said with funding for the DDG 1000 series of ships being limited by the House of Representatives, the ship-building program may be axed, The (Norfolk) Virginian Pilot reported Sunday.
To date, two of the destroyers are under construction but their price tag of $5 billion each has made them a costly investment.
"It's pretty clear that unless there's a major surprise, the class will stop at two ships," Work said.
The DDG 1000 destroyers are built with electric motors rather than the traditional gas turbine engines, allowing the ships to run quieter than their current counterparts. The ships are also designed to show up smaller on radar and come equipped with guns capable of hitting a target from more than 50 miles away.
U.S. Sens. John Warner, R-Va., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in a letter to Navy leaders that ending the program would mean cutting nearly 100,000 jobs nationwide, the newspaper said.
