Shipbuilding and Repair: Navy Needs a Strategic Approach for Private Sector Industrial Base Investments
What GAO Found
The private companies that the Navy contracts with to build vessels and repair surface ships are key components of the Navy’s ship industrial base. These private companies augment the repair work conducted at the Navy’s public shipyards.
Ship Industrial Base Struggles to Meet the Navy’s Goals
- Shipbuilding. The shipbuilding industrial base has not met the Navy’s goals in recent history. The Navy’s shipbuilding plans have consistently reflected a larger increase in the fleet than the industrial base has achieved. Yet, the Navy continues to base its goals on an assumption that the industrial base will perform better on cost and schedule than it has historically. The shipbuilders have infrastructure and workforce…
