China’s naval buildup exposes U.S. shipbuilding gaps and fleet weakness

OPINION:

China has unleashed a decades-long naval-building program unlike any in modern times. Beijing has done this on the back of a commercial shipbuilding industry, nurtured and rapidly expanded after its embarrassing performance during the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis of 1996. Its intent is to dominate maritime trade and the seas.

The reality for the U.S. Navy today is that it lacks the commercial base to confront China’s naval forces, as evidenced by persistent delays in shipbuilding and labor shortages. The nation urgently needs a larger, sustainable fleet and a modern, globally competitive commercial shipbuilding sector. The Navy’s recently announced Golden Fleet must contribute to this revival.

A recent report on the Navy’s Golden Fleet makes this case, lays out the challenges ahead and explains how to overcome them while avoiding past mistakes in naval shipbuilding, such as those with the Littoral Combat Ship and Zumwalt destroyer. Let’s hope these warnings will be heeded and that the Navy, with Congress, seizes the fading opportunity to revive the nation’s strategically important maritime industry.

Top of the list is the need to get firepower to sea. Given the challenge from a belligerently confident China, that means quickly building large, unmanned platforms. These should be sent to the Philippine Sea, based out of Guam, with manned warships providing overwatch, far from interfering with shipping but within striking range of China and able to defend Guam from missile attacks.

We don’t have the luxury of time, but only large warships can take the fight to China across the expanse of the Pacific Ocean. For too long, the Navy has failed to replace its aging Ticonderoga-class cruisers, which are important for defending aircraft carriers. Given the danger from China’s long-range anti-ship ballistic missiles and air defense weapons, it is necessary to provide long-range suppressing fires in support of carrier-launched strikes, something a modern battleship can provide.

Moreover, the lessons of the Red Sea and the fight over access through the Strait of Hormuz make clear that modern naval armor is needed to force opposed straits. We need a technological sprint to develop effective armor to defend against modern weapons. Merging cutting-edge material sciences with 3D printing technology could greatly increase the survivability of warships, aircraft and tanks on the battlefield.

However, the Navy faces more than a few challenges, and time and budgets will be unkind to its Golden Fleet plans.

First, the need for greater shipbuilding capacity, which will require a national effort aided by key treaty allies such as South Korea and Japan. Second, a comprehensive shipbuilding program that aligns limited resources across various agencies, all dependent on domestic shipbuilding; the Army (yep, they have ships too) and the U.S. Coast Guard are also facing urgent and sizable shipbuilding requirements. Third, filling gaps in the Navy’s current fleet requires delivery of frigates, submarine tenders, submarines, oilers (see Project Tidalwave) and a new class of destroyer tender to remain viable in a Pacific War.

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Navigating these challenges will require leadership with deep technical and industry insights. Sadly, the job most important to executing the Navy’s shipbuilding has remained unfilled. Established by statute and Senate-confirmed is the post of assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition. It has now been 14 months without a hand on the rudder, and it shows.

Case in point: The plan announced late last year to cancel the Constellation frigate program risks delivering no new ships or added shipbuilding capacity to the nation. Add to this delays caused by failing to take measured risks earlier in getting orders for basically proven unmanned platforms to operate in the Pacific. As the clock ticks toward China being ready to wage war over the fate of Taiwan in 2027, these unmanned platforms are the best option to mitigate rapidly evaporating firepower at sea as Ohio-class guided missile boats retire this year.

For too long, the Navy’s shipbuilding and fleet design has been focused on budgets and short-term business decisions, considerations that have neither delivered capacity nor resiliency against a formidable foe in Beijing. The threat is real. Shipbuilding takes time (even the unmanned types), and failing to act has placed the nation in a precarious situation.

We need the Golden Fleet — now. Let’s make it happen.

• Brent Sadler is a senior research fellow specializing in naval warfare and advanced technology at The Heritage Foundation’s Allison Center for National Defense.

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