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House Sea Power Subcommittee hearing flags major delays, workforce shortfalls in U.S. shipbuilding
Summary
At a House Armed Services subcommittee hearing, members and witnesses warned that U.S. shipbuilding faces sustained cost overruns, schedule slippage and critical workforce shortages that threaten the Navy’s ability to reach its force-sizing goals.
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers and technical witnesses at a House Armed Services Committee Sea Power and Projection Forces Subcommittee hearing said Thursday that the United States is behind schedule and paying more than planned to build and repair Navy ships, and they urged a combination of workforce investments, industrial-base modernization and procurement reforms to close the gap.
Committee members and the panel’s witnesses — officials from the Department of the Navy, the Congressional Budget Office, the Government Accountability Office and the Congressional Research Service — described sustained cost growth, delivery delays across major ship programs and a shortage of skilled trades and designers that industry and government must confront to meet the Navy’s force requirements.
Why it matters: The Navy’s latest assessments call for a fleet of roughly 381 battle force ships; witnesses told the subcommittee that current procurement plans and industrial capacity would not meet that target on the timeframes the Navy has described unless systemic changes occur. The panel repeatedly identified workforce pay, retention and training as central constraints and urged steadier, production‑focused procurement to…
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