In April, social media posts out of China showed a potential major step for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). If the images are accurate, that means their newest aircraft carrier, the Fujian, is set to begin sea trials, moving it even closer to operational status.
This development has drawn the attention of American military leadership, in part due to the United States’ current shortcomings in regard to its own maritime forces.
In February, retired Marine Corps Maj. Jeffrey Seavy wrote an article titled “The United States Must Improve Its Shipbuilding Capacity,” for the U.S. Naval Institute’s monthly journal, “Proceedings.”
“The United States does not have the shipyard capacity to build new ships and fully maintain or repair ships it currently holds in inventory,” Seavy wrote. “Given current shipyard capacity, the Navy is estimated to be 20 years behind in maintenance work.”
American shipyard capacity and shipbuilding capabilities received considerable attention at the 2024 Sea, Air, Space exposition.
“Shipbuilding is a key challenge for this decade,” said Vice Adm. Frank Morley, principal military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Navy. “It’s really our generational challenge for those of us now in this business to set the stage. And this is a pretty daunting task that the vector is pretty clear.”
However, it isn’t just military leadership raising concerns. Commercial partners are also drawing attention to the issue, including Fairbanks Morse Defense, a naval engine supplier.
“If we look at the world today, with the what the situation is in the Red Sea with the Houthi rebels, a potential conflict and the Pacific, obviously, what’s going on in Ukraine with Russia, there’s significant risks that are in the in the world today,” Fairbanks Morse Defense CEO George Whittier said.
The naval defense supplier has been working with the Navy for over a century. Whittier said the relationship remains healthy but that getting the government and its civilian partners on the same page will be the first step in solving the United States’ shipbuilding deficiencies.
“The challenge I think that we’re facing as an industry is that the demand signals coming and the budgetary process are not matching the rhetoric and dialogue and discussion that’s out there,” Whittier said. “And so as an industry, we need to say, ‘What are the things we can do to try to get increased demand that’s out there to provide more commonality for us for the future?’”
According to statistics from the United Nations, the U.S. and China are on equal footing for economic output. The U.S. is falling short with shipbuilding — not just compared to China, but South Korea and Japan as well.
“There is no single smoking gun or easy fix to any of this,” Morley said. “But it’s all a part of transparent, ruthless pursuit of improving performance. They’re in a measured, very measured fact based data way.”
Whittier says part of the solution can be found away from the coasts.
“The biggest labor constraints are at the shipyards themselves, and the reason for that is they tend to be the dominant employer in their area,” Whittier said. “And that makes a lot of sense. However, if you think about the Midwest of the U.S. where we operate, we again I have about 1500 employees, we are not labor constrained. And there is a tremendous opportunity to take work out of the shipyards and bring that into the Midwest, and start to get more work done.”
According to Whittier, the Mississippi River is a natural resource that could be extremely helpful to the Navy but is not being used to its full potential.
“I don’t think we’re utilizing the Mississippi River at all,” Whittier said. “The Mississippi River is a gem, and we’re just not using it. I mean, St. Louis is one of the biggest cities in the country. And there’s doing no work for the Navy. I mean, it’s right there. There’s labor available in the Midwest. We just have to be smarter about how we apply it.”
However, just as important as how the U.S. solves its shipbuilding issues is the when. As it stands, if the time comes, America will likely be on the starting line in the face of a conflict.
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