US Navy is desperate to close the gap with China. Can Japan or Korea save US shipyards?

Published 2024-08-01
Two decades of underinvestment in US shipbuilding capacity have led to a crisis in US Navy procurement, and a total loss of the civilian industry. We now have just a tiny handful of American companies that build ships at all, and those who do, build exclusively for the US Navy.

US shipbuilders are non-competitive against dual-purpose shipbuilders from China, Japan, and Korea, who have multiple revenue streams that can finance new investment and best practices. For military ships, Denmark provides a recent case study of developing a best-in-class missile frigate at about a fourth the cost of the US Navy's latest-generation frigate.

US Navy officials are racing to close the gap with China, the world's number largest shipbuilder and now the largest navy, and hope Japan and Korea are willing to invest in and upgrade abandoned US facilities.

Resources and links:

US Navy Looking to S. Korean, Japanese Shipbuilders to Revive American Shipyards
www.voanews.com/a/us-navy-looking-to-s-korean-japa…

CNN, These may be the world’s best warships. And they’re not American
www.cnn.com/2023/06/02/asia/japan-south-korea-nava…

Reuters, U.S. wants Japanese shipyards to help keep warships ready to fight in Asia
www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/us-eyeing-japan…

‘Desperate’ US Seeks Japan’s & South Korea’s Help To Restart Its Defunct Shipyards; Keep Pace With China
www.eurasiantimes.com/desperate-us-seeks-japans-ke…

U.S. Navy Secretary seeks Korean and Japanese investment in U.S. shipbuilding
www.ajot.com/insights/full/ai-u.s-navy-secretary-s…

Graphic, U.S. Defense Spending Compared to Other Countries
www.pgpf.org/chart-archive/0053_defense-comparison

Sea Forces, Danish Iver Huitfeldt-class Guided Missile Frigate
www.seaforces.org/marint/Danish-Navy/Frigate/Iver-…

South Korean Shipbuilder Hanwha Makes $100M Bid to Buy Philly Shipyard, SECNAV Del Toro Praises Deal
news.usni.org/2024/06/20/south-korean-shipbuilder-…

Chart: Chinese Navy vs US Navy
thesoundingline.com/chart-chinese-navy-vs-us-navy/

Closing scene, Ningbo, Zhejiang

All Comments (21)
  • @klaasvakie
    The USA's desperation is becoming embarrassing!
  • Without the military industrial complex, America goes the way of Great Britain.
  • @Hystericall
    35 Trillion dollars... I remember when the debt was less than 1T before Regan, and everyone thought that was big and not sustainable....we are bankrupt country with a big mouth and high opinion of ourselves. Very dangerous.
  • @hungo7720
    China's robust shipbuilding industry is dominating and outpacing the rest of the world. On the other hand, the US manufacturing capability is capped and crippled by its staggering costs.
  • @guens01
    Let that sink in. The country with the biggest military budget in the world cannot build ships. Lol 😂. The joke of the century.
  • The problem with the US government, military & elites are not being genuine with anything that they are dealing with atm. Including the "Allies". Everyone is getting sick of the US' bullying
  • The master orders his two Asian lackeys to "share" their skills and technology, having them built his naval fleets and saved the U.S. shipyards. Later, he'll sanction South-Korean and Japanese shipyards for unfair competition.
  • ⚠️🇺🇸🇯🇵🇰🇷⚠️USA, s Korea, Japan has aging population since 1990s! Who's going to build those ships! They can always contract CHINESE COSCO!😂😂😂
  • @JR-zm7ju
    USA is so weird they can print money for ukraine, but they cant print money for their own shipyard
  • America is freakin' going broke and we want to make shipyards?!? America has lost its freakin mind.
  • @j.c.4192
    "Making South Korea and Japan to open up subsidiaries in the US and transfer the technology..." What sort of deal is it now? Higher cost to build, longer supply chain, and forced technology transfer to the US? That's stupid deal for South Korea and Japan if you ask me.
  • @glass8289
    There is an easy solution for this. Print more Ships, like printing more US dollars.
  • @hpw-ws6bj
    India can help. Need anything demolished? 😂😂😂
  • A report from the U.S.A. : I was recently employed by a state agency in a maintenance & repair facility. 8 managers + 11 maintenance technicians. All of the managers made well over $100,000 per year with benefits. The eight managers together did on a good day one hour of work. All of the managers were drug addicts. The maintenance technicians did on average 2 hours per day of work max. The repair quality was horrible. 2/3 of the maintenance technicians were on drugs. Trust me, nothing in the U.S.A. can be fixed by the government. State of Arkansas.
  • The problem is not finding skilled labor. The problem is willing to pay skilled labor what they are worth. In the US, Wall Street driven business decisions focus on maximizing profits to the extent they are no longer sharing the wealth with the laborers; instead they use the money that would improve the company to do stock buybacks and pay themselves 300 times more than anyone else. Compare this to China where the workers are improving their standard of living instead of going backwards.
  • @j.a.p.818
    This video is shadow banned on Facebook, by Facebook. IDK why.
  • @Larkinchance
    Casting your mind back a few years, the US navy was taking bids on modernizing military port at Sevastopol and today, we see how that went. This also explains NATO's preoccupation with Crimea.. In a country that seems to lagging in so many crucial areas requiring engineering, you would think that education would be #1 priority. However the US has protected high tuitions and loan traps at a time when we need millions more highly educated people. An individual should be able to go as far as their grades can carry them. I'm wasting my breath....
  • @eymaslacker
    What is Japan and S. Korea getting from building shipyards, training people, building supply chains, etc? I only see contributions by Japan and S. Korea, nothing from the USA. Is this supposed to be a thuggish demand or a charity case?
  • China is making ships like they are making dumplings 🥟. Ain’t no way they can catch up even with the help from them