4 Pillars to revitalize U.S. shipbuilding and manufacturing
America’s shipbuilding industrial base once powered global commerce, projected U.S. power, anchored domestic manufacturing, and supported millions of middle-class jobs. Today, it stands at a crossroads, long atrophied from a lack of cohesive industrial policy with an eye toward both economic and national security, offshoring of traditional manufacturing, and consolidation of the defense shipyards into just a handful of major contractors. After decades of offshoring, underinvestment, and policy inertia, the U.S. has unwittingly surrendered critical ground—especially in the maritime sector—to foreign competitors.
Today, China accounts for more than 55% of global shipbuilding output. The U.S., once the world’s leading shipbuilder, accounts for just one-tenth of one percent. This imbalance is not just a matter of jobs and trade—it’s a fundamental strategic vulnerability. Victory in the Pacific during World War II was perhaps less the prowess of military strategists than America’s industrial capacity – nearly 9000 major naval and auxiliary vessels entered service between 1942 and 1945. Today, maritime industrial capacity is significantly diminished, and remaining shipyards have consolidated. Without a dramatic change in policy and investment, the U.S. will struggle to repair and replace damaged ships quickly enough to sustain military operations. We cannot deter aggression if we cannot sustain past first contact.
Fortunately, the U.S. has an opportunity to reverse this decline. A new industrial era is here—one focused on the future of maritime technology, skilled labor, and purposeful national strategy. Current initiatives in industrial policy and increased defense investment mark a turning point. If implemented wisely, these types of initiatives can help rebuild the American maritime sector across four key pillars: industrial modernization, workforce development, strategic demand, and supply chain resiliency.
Industrial Base Investment and Modernization
To compete globally, America must invest in modern shipyards and manufacturing facilities capable of building and repairing complex vessels with speed, precision, and scale—while lowering both capital and lifecycle costs. That means upgrading equipment, digitizing production lines, and investing in materials science. We must rebuild capacity for traditional steel and aluminum ship construction while rapidly investing and scaling production of advanced composite vessels.
Composites—like carbon fiber and advanced polymers—offer major advantages: they are lighter, stronger, corrosion-resistant, and enable greater design flexibility. These materials are essential for the next generation of naval vessels, unmanned surface and subsurface platforms, advanced supply and logistics carriers, and dual-use maritime systems. While the U.S. leads the world in composites R&D, it lacks the scaled production capacity and integrated supply chains to compete with countries like China and South Korea.
Modern shipyards require investment. To compete globally, American shipyards must be AI-enabled, automation-ready, and capable of supporting both military and commercial production. We must think of shipyards not as legacy infrastructure, but as next-generation industrial hubs.
Workforce Development and Talent Pipelines
No industrial strategy can succeed without people. The U.S. shipbuilding workforce has been hollowed out over the last three decades, and the future of maritime manufacturing will rely not only on welders and machinists, but equally on technicians trained in digital design, AI and autonomous systems, and composite fabrication. Modern shipbuilding is more akin to aerospace than to the gritty yards of the last century – demanding engineering precision and highly specialized skills.
To rebuild this talent base, federal and state governments should invest in maritime vocational training, community college partnerships, union apprenticeships, and dedicated manufacturing academies. Shipyards must also play a direct role in developing talent. Partnerships between industry and academia can ensure that curricula reflect the technologies used on the shop floor. Just as we invest in drydocks and cranes, we must treat workforce development as strategic infrastructure. Finally, investments in shipyard infrastructure, particularly in yards building dual-use vessels, small and medium sized unmanned platforms, and even subsurface technologies will help spur the labor force and serve as a bridge to grow the talent pipeline to larger, more traditional shipbuilding initiatives.
Demand Signaling and Strategic Procurement
One of the most powerful levers the federal government holds is its own purchasing power. Long-term procurement contracts—via the Navy, Coast Guard, and other federal buyers—can anchor supply chains, stabilize cash flows, and stimulate private capital investment. This is especially vital for dual-use technologies that serve both military and commercial sectors, which serve to accelerate technologies while driving down acquisition and lifecycle costs. Similarly, increased early funding into R&D efforts can help companies meet government requirements while bridging the proverbial valley of death.
To generate durable demand, future vessel designs should include composite-ready specifications and prioritize total lifecycle performance—not just low upfront cost. With greater demand for unmanned platforms, offshore energy vessels, and modern port infrastructure, strategic procurement can create economies of scale across multiple markets and create significant downstream economic growth.
Congress has increased the budget authority for the Office of Strategic Capital, which is now empowered to inject catalytic funding into small and mid-size shipyards. These firms often lack access to the capital needed to invest in advanced equipment or hire skilled labor. Federal financing—structured through equity, debt, or loan guarantees—can provide the critical first step in expanding capacity and building out the broader maritime industrial base.
Supply Chain Resilience and Additive Manufacturing
Even the most modern shipyards cannot operate without secure access to key inputs. Today, global supply chains for critical materials—such as carbon fiber, resins, rare earths, energy storage, and propulsion components—are highly concentrated in China. This poses a serious threat to both economic resilience and military readiness.
A maritime supply chain strategy should focus on reshoring or nearshoring production of high-value materials and components. Defense appropriations should fund domestic production of composite precursors and high-performance alloys, as well as support regional manufacturing clusters with allied nations.
In parallel, the U.S. must invest aggressively in additive manufacturing—including 3D printing of titanium, aluminum, steel, and composite parts. Additive manufacturing can dramatically reduce lead times, improve part precision, and retool production lines in hours instead of weeks or months. It also localizes production, reducing dependence on fragile global supply chains. With proper investment, additive manufacturing can enable a new tier of decentralized suppliers to support advanced electronic, propulsion, and energy systems.
A New Maritime Arsenal of Democracy
Rebuilding America’s shipbuilding and manufacturing strength is not about replicating the past – it’s about redefining the future. With a clear strategy, targeted investments, and sustained political will, the U.S. can again become a global leader in maritime capability and innovation.
Congress has signaled a new era of investment into the defense industrial base through increased appropriations, reconciliation, and expanded authorization through the annual NDAA, and investment into novel shipyards and advanced maritime mobility platforms is the first step toward the future of American shipbuilding. But money alone isn’t enough—it must be deployed with purpose to modernize infrastructure, grow a skilled workforce, build strategic demand, and develop resilient onshore and nearshore supply chains. Furthermore, it must work in parallel with a modernized regulatory framework and overarching industrial policy that ensures growth of capital asset construction and supply chain resiliency.
Advanced maritime manufacturing is not just a matter of economic policy—it is a pillar of national security. The country that leads in next-generation materials, production methods, and industrial strategy will shape the rules of global trade and power while maintaining the industrial capacity to build and sustain a fleet unmatched in capacity, capability, and lethality.