The Navy is asking for $65.8 billion in shipbuilding funding for 2027 as Washington tries to close a production gap with China, whose shipyards turn out about 1,700 ships a year versus roughly five from American builders, according to a new report from Business Insider, U.S. officials now describe that gap as a national security threat.
The government has turned to South Korea, the world's second-largest shipbuilder, for help restoring domestic production, and the Navy is counting on at least seven shipyards to speed up deliveries.
In 2016, the Navy calculated how many battle force ships it would need in a war with rivals including China and settled on 355. China's fleet stood at about 255 ships at the time. Current estimates put it above 400. The Navy remains about 60 ships short of its 2016 target, and the requirement has grown since then.
Business Insider reported from Austal USA, a shipbuilder on Blakeley Island in Mobile, Alabama, where even a lightly armed vessel such as the Expeditionary Fast Transport takes 32 to 33 months to deliver. The outlet identified several bottlenecks: the industry lacks roughly 250,000 skilled workers and training 200 apprentices over several years costs more than $3 million. Harsh conditions and hourly pay also drive turnover. Design changes on the first ship of a class can also add months and tens of millions of dollars to a program. Building a ship in the United States also costs four to five times as much as in China or South Korea.
The report c
