CVN-78 $9.78 billion
The CVN-78 is the first of the Navy’s next generation of aircraft carrier. It was designed by Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC). The government ordered three carriers for delivery over the next 10 years, with the first carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, set to join the fleet in 2015. When completed, at $9.8 billion, it will be the most expensive single piece of military equipment ever assembled. The massive carrier is intended to replace the long-serving USS Enterprise. The new ship will be nearly three football fields long and weigh more than 100,000 tons.
P-8 Poseidon $206.5 million
The Boeing P-8A Poseidon is an ocean patrol and antisubmarine aircraft. While it is combat-equipped, the Poseidon’s main function will be to patrol the skies with its state-of-the-art sensory equipment. While Boeing (NYSE: BA) used the 737-800 fuselage as a starting point, it made major modifications to turn the airplane into an effective antisubmarine and surveillance vehicle.
MRAP $1.6 million
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have posed a set of new problems to the U.S. military. The biggest of these was the issue of roadside bombs, or “improvised explosive devices,” also known as IEDs. The military’s solution to this problem was the Joint Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle, or MRAP.