The US Navy faces several challenges as it expands its fleet. None of them can be solved easily or quickly.
A new report from naval and defense policy experts says shipbuilders and the government urgently need to take a range of measures to address the Navy's delays and cost overruns, especially as The Chinese fleet is superior to the American onein size and adopting new technologies to become a dominant naval power.
Many of the Navy's problems, including the retirement of more ships than are being built, a slow and costly shipbuilding process with only a few commercial shipyards, and poor program management, date back to the end of the Cold War. Over the decades, the situation has worsened and reached a boiling point as the US military tries to focus on countering China's military rise.
“Despite the Navy's fleet expansion plans, as well as bipartisan efforts and funding from Congress, the U.S. shipbuilding industry, including the Navy, Department of Defense, Congress, and industry, has failed to consistently produce ships at the required scale, speed, and cost,” write the authors of the think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSMI, report wrote.
Failed projects include two types of littoral combat ships, an advanced stealth destroyer of which only three will be in service, and the recently canceled Constellation-class frigate.
No one organization, incident or program is solely to blame. Washington's signal for new ships was inconsistent, leaving shipbuilders unable to plan long-term projects. And Navy requirements and ship designs sometimes meant ships failed to meet expectations, were delayed for years, and went over budget.
Two Constellation-class frigates are being built by shipbuilder Fincantieri Marinette Marine, and the rest of the program has been cancelled. Chief Petty Officer Shannon Renfro
Right now, Secretary of the Navy John PhelanDefense Department and shipyard officials are focused on fixing these problems and preventing the same mistakes in the future. Shipbuilding is a top priority and received a lot of attention during the first year of the second Trump administration.
However, according to the report, there is no single solution that could reverse the decline of American shipbuilding, “and addressing any one of the underlying problems does not guarantee a radical improvement in the situation.” Instead, the Navy, Congress and the shipyards will have to find the right path forward over many years of work.
The Navy's combat strength, including surface ships, submarines and aircraft carriers, peaked during the buildup during the second Reagan administration at 568 personnel. After the Cold War, their numbers declined as the US focused on the ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; In 2015, the fleet reached its lowest level of 271 ships. A year later, the Navy unveiled plans to increase its fleet size to 355 ships, a figure that has increased to 381 and 134 large unmanned surface and underwater vehicles in 2023 under the Biden administration.
These goals have proven unattainable without an efficient small warship that costs significantly less than the $13 billion Ford-class aircraft carriers and $2 billion guided-missile destroyers.
Compared to the United States, China has amassed a huge fleet over the past 25 years. Thanks to state shipbuilders and dual-use commercial and military shipyardsequipment and manpower, China's fleet reached a height of about 370 warships last year. The growth of China's navy has alarmed officials, even though not all of them can match the highly advanced, well-built ships and weapons of the United States.
Navy officials are increasingly looking to unmanned vessels to quickly add new fleet capabilities. A combination of large, medium and small drone boats would be useful for a range of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions and could expand the Navy's reach in regions such as the Indo-Pacific while keeping sailors out of harm's way. Companies can build such autonomous ships fast, but questions remain about how effective drones are; Today's few operational drone boats primarily act as surveillance vessels. This is still a relatively new area, but it could provide short-term answers to the fleet's problems by reducing the demand for crewed ships.
Rendering of Blue Water Autonomy's unmanned vessel, a mid-size vessel the company is currently testing. Blue Water Autonomy
The Navy's current fleet is also experiencing a higher tempo of operations, which places “greater strain on the fleet and its crews as fewer ships must deploy more regularly to missions, thereby increasing the need for greater maintenance and sustainment,” the CSIS report noted.
Earlier this year, Acting Chief of Naval Operations Adm. James Kilby said the Navy's readiness levels were 68% for surface ships and 67% for submarines, while aviation was at 70%. The service's goal is to reach 80% by 2027.
Part of this disparity is due to delays in vessel maintenance. The US's current ability to keep its fleet operational at shipyards is limited, resulting in repairs often taking 20% to 100% longer than expected, according to a new report. Congressional Budget Office Analysis. There are many reasons for this: the average age of Navy ships is older than before, requiring more work, and maintenance volumes are often greater than expected.
Maintaining the readiness of older ships is one challenge, but the Navy's goals for building new ones continue to face obstacles from extended construction schedules, delays in major programs and cost overruns. In the USA Government Accountability Office Report Earlier this year, a government watchdog agency estimated that as of fall 2024, 37 of the 45 warships under construction were delayed.
Several reasons have been blamed for this, including the Navy's emphasis on price in awarding contracts rather than speed, rising ship prices due to the procurement of fewer hulls, and changes in ship designs and capabilities during construction. The recently canceled Constellation-class frigate is a prime example of how design is changing. could doom the program, causing delays and skyrocketing costs. The frigate was initially expected to have 80% commonality with its Italian Navy version, but ended up with only 15%.
Leading shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries is keeping more experienced workers in its shipyards by increasing their wages. Virginian Pilot/TNS
In terms of industry, the shipbuilding sector has shrunk and mainly serves the construction of ships for Navy and Coast Guard and several merchant ships; most commercial shipbuilding has moved to countries such as Japan, South Korea and China, where they are cheaper to build.
Washington, the Navy and shipbuilders are looking at several ways to solve these problems. Billions are being invested in the industrial base, with a major focus on submarines and broader initiatives focusing on training the next generation of workers. Modernization efforts at shipyards, including automation, artificial intelligenceand robotics is also a priority to reduce costs.
Considering the huge advantage and advantages of competitors such as South Korea and China, this is what can reduce the cost of ship production. But they are unlikely to revive commercial shipbuilding which can be converted for wartime use, as happened during World War II.
However, the challenges facing American shipbuilding are complex. “There is no single policy solution to address the entire problem,” the CSIS authors write. “Furthermore, solving any of the underlying problems does not guarantee a radical improvement in the situation.”
The report concludes that the Navy's continued production of ships under multi-year contracts will stabilize projects, budgets and workforces.
Another solution could include increased cooperation with US partners and allies, something Washington is already seeking. South Korean shipyards, some of the most advanced and busiest in the world, are doing more US Navy ship maintenance and the main partnerships between these shipyards and the US are aimed at modernization of American shipbuilding processes and workflows.
