Littoral combat ship sea frames, such as the Independence-class hull pictured here, were designed and built concurrently, a US government naval expert testified. (Janes/Michael Fabey)
US Navy (USN) shipbuilding suffers from long-standing growth in lead ship costs, Ronald O'Rourke, naval specialist for the Congressional Research Service (CRS), testified on 11 March to the House Armed Services Committee Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee.
Testifying at the same hearing, Brett Seidle, acting assistant navy secretary for Research, Development and Acquisition, agreed the USN still faces major shipbuilding schedule and cost issues, telling lawmakers, “On balance, cost, and schedule performance remain poor; deliveries are approximately one to four years late and costs continue to rise faster than overall inflation.”
USN officials have acknowledged issues with lead ship construction, even citing examples in its 45-day review of major shipbuilding programmes publicly briefed in April 2024.
USN officials have cited workforce issues – such as the inability to recruit new workers and retain experienced ones – as well as lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, such as supply-chain issues, for the delays in these shipbuilding programmes.
Under contributing factors, a summary released for the 45-day review listed the following lead ship issues: design maturity, first-of-class challenges, transition to production, and design workforce. The summary also listed the following ship-class issues: acquisition and contract strategy, supply chain, skilled workforce, and government workforce.
Under “initiatives to improve”, the summary noted, “generate [a] plan to address atrophy in national design and engineering workforce, refine acquisition and contract strategies, reimagine shipyard and skilled labour as a national asset, assess navy workforce posture, [and] budget for investments to improve performance and minimise delays.”
Shipbuilding delays, USN officials noted, led to cost growth.
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