And the Check's in the Mail, Too!

Who do these guys think they're kidding?

A new-design aircraft carrier, priced as high as $13 billion in some estimates circulating on Capitol Hill, actually will cost less than additional "Nimitz-class" flattops like those now in service, key members of the new ship's construction team asserted Thursday.

In a briefing for reporters, Navy officials and executives of Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard put the actual construction cost of the first carrier in the new series, now called CVN-21, at $7.3 billion. That's about $200 million less than an additional Nimitz-class carrier.

Can anyone tell me the last time a ship was developed and built on budget, much less under budget?