President Trump issued a memo that calls for robust efforts to be taken in support of the nation’s shipbuilding industry.
“The United States Navy has experienced a series of shipbuilding setbacks stemming from overly complex designs and iterative design change procedures, which have resulted in cost growth, delays, and cancellations,” the memo reads. “The lack of capacity and competition among shipbuilders has resulted in large backlogs of orders across six major Navy shipbuilding programs and a commercial shipbuilding sector that is not globally competitive.”
Trump’s memo directs the Department of war to “restore both capacity and competition to the maritime industrial base as it expands our naval force structure” using “proven, reliable, and affordable technologies and ship designs, as well as award contracts that enable purchases from foreign suppliers in the near term while simultaneously incentivizing investment in America’s shipbuilding industrial base, consistent with other major equipment purchases such as icebreakers.”
The memo builds upon an order signed last year to restore American shipbuilding and revitalize the maritime industries. The order criticized that “data shows that the United States constructs less than one percent of commercial ships globally, while the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is responsible for producing approximately half.”
The revitalization of the shipbuilding industry comes as reports indicate that China is rapidly advancing its naval capabilities and is planning to construct the world’s largest aircraft carrier, potentially surpassing the U.S. Navy’s USS Gerald R. Ford. Satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies reveals significant construction activity at China’s Dalian Shipyard, indicating preparations for a new carrier equipped with four catapults, similar to the Ford-class supercarriers.
