The Criticality of Maintaining a Lead in Shipbuilding Over Near-Peer Competitors

The U.S. is in a Great Power Competition with the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation. If war ever breaks out among the competitors, it will primarily be fought at sea. The greatest credible and persistent deterrent to conflict and war in the Pacific Ocean against the PRC and Russia that the U.S. can have is a robust and healthy military shipbuilding industry and more ships. The U.S. Navy is shrinking while the Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is growing larger with no signs or intent to slow down in the coming decades. While the U.S. Navy's inventory is more advanced, technical superiority is insufficient to deter the PRC from initiating conflict or war. PRC's grand strategy and PLAN tactics highlight the importance of the U.S. in maintaining a physical presence of ships in the vast expanses of the Pacific Ocean. The U.S. must reverse the trend of atrophy in the shipbuilding industry so that it can put ships to sea more quickly than it does now. The U.S. also must make smarter decisions when it comes to acquiring new classes of ships and should also investigate foreign military sales as a way to boost the shipbuilding industry.