Improving the Shipbuilding Industrial Base.

• Author: Limas-Villers, Heberto
• Position: NDIA Policy Points

* In the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress authorized $4.9 billion in funding for Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and an additional $4.7 billion for shipbuilding to include two destroyers, two expeditionary transports and a fleet oiler.

The increased attention to U.S. naval capabilities comes after increasing competition with China, as well as discussions around changes to the current force structure. Currently, the Navy is required by law to have at least 355 ships, though plans are in place for expanding the fleet to between 398 and 512 vessels, which includes both manned and unmanned platforms.

This objective is largely aspirational as the number of both private and public shipyards has significantly declined with gaps in experienced personnel, rising costs and a boom-bust cycle in naval acquisitions.

The United States became a global power through its power-projection capabilities, including its naval prowess. To maintain its edge, it must build those capabilities once again.

Since 1993, the number of public shipyards the Navy used fell from eight to four--two on the West Coast and two on the East Coast--due to the "peace dividend" of the 1990s. However, these four shipyards have limited functional dry docks, old equipment, and regularly delay maintenance for the submarine and aircraft carrier fleets.

The U.S. shipbuilding industry is bolstered by 22 private shipyards. Three shipbuilders have left the industry and only one shipyard has opened since the 1960s. Both Huntington Ingalls Industries and General Dynamics, the two largest U.S. shipbuilders, reported a record new construction backlog for 2020 competing for dry-dock space with essential ship maintenance.

What is left is a diminished industrial base incapable of even maintaining the Navy's current presence. Worse, U.S. shipbuilding is significantly behind China, which has dozens of shipyards capable of building and maintaining a fleet that can project naval power beyond the First Island Chain. Because of the nation's investments, the Chinese navy grew to approximately 350 ships by 2020, and Beijing now has the largest navy in the world by ship numbers albeit not by tonnage.

Efforts are being made by the U.S. Navy to renovate its public shipyards through a 20-year, $21 billion Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan. However, more attention needs to be given to the private shipyards that already construct and maintain most of the fleet from fleet oilers to...