This piece originally appeared in Commonplace.
Naval warfare is on the brink of a radical transformation. The nature of sea power has evolved over time due to technological change, shaping global geopolitics from the Battle of Salamis to the present day. President Trump has put shipbuilding capacity at the heart of his vision for national greatness, putting more resources and planning into expanding the merchant and naval fleets.
The United States used to be world leading in its ability to build ships, establishing it as a great naval power. But now there is plenty of catching up to do. It also matters what kind of vessels our defense industrial base is producing. The U.S. Navy must be able to deploy a modern, hybrid fleet of ships—something very different from the days of World War II—and it cannot be held hostage by white elephant projects that never pan out.
The demise of ship building is connected to the well-documented decline of the American defense industrial base. The defense industry is now dominated by five prime contractors—Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman—whereas 51 companies used to compete against each other as recently as 1993. Less competition has led to dangerous reductions in innovation and production with talent and capital being directed elsewhere in the tech sector. Dual-use companies serving both military and civilian purposes have become far less common. The nation’s stockpile of munitions would last only days in a hot war, with the ability to replenish them taking years in the event of a conflict with China. The gap in military-industrial power has become dangerously wide and risks getting worse.
