US Navy News Update: April 2025 Operations and Strategy Shifts

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U.S. Navy Shipbuilding tasks have perpetually been lingering even after allocating huge budget grants

Surprisingly, despite doubling its budget, the US Navy hasn’t been able to increase the total number of ships in a span of last twenty years. Even after investing billions of dollars in the US Navy which works in collaboration with private companies who work with them, the outcome has been minimal. Despite such high investment, the industry has not been able to deliver the results as per the Navy’s expectations, resulting in a huge compromise with the Navy’s ability to protect the U.S. from growing maritime threats and competition.

Why are shipbuilders unable to meet the Navy’s expectations?

Navy ships are primary built and repaired by private companies but these companies have not been able to deliver the required outcome in expanding the Navy’s fleet. As a result the Navy’s ship building programs have suffered great deal and have been lagging behind the expected schedule. Few ships have been delayed for as many as three long years.

The shipbuilders come across two real challenges in meeting the Navy’s expectations:

• Lack of physical space and aging infrastructures
• Lack of workers and challenges in hiring fresh recruits

Despite knowing about these challenges very well, the Navy compels these companies to build more ships for the fleet. Therefore it becomes almost impossible to deliver the required output by these shipbuilding companies due to their limited capacity. The Navy seems to be hardly bothered about the limited delivering capacity of shipbuilders while making new plans to expand and empower its fleet.

To meet the given challenges, the Navy and the Department of Defense are together planning for a new venture with asset up policies to ensure maximum output by the ship building companies. They have already invested billions to enhance their shipbuilding capacity.  They have pressed upon infrastructure improvements at shipyards and fostered workforce development.

But when these efforts are keenly analyzed, it is clearly evident that the Navy has failed to monitor whether its investments have really been able to deliver the desired results or not. Still, it relies on the shipbuilding companies and expects that the shipbuilders will achieve different results. Without proper monitoring and evaluation, the Navy is not going to be able to really address the given challenges.

It is also quite evident that the Navy and Department of Defense are unable to monitor their investments to prevent unnecessary duplication of the efforts already put in by them. Strategic leadership and properly coordinated efforts can definitely ensure more fruitful results in the coming future.

Many recommendations to meet the given challenges and ensure maximum output have been already given to the Navy. The Navy has recently set up an office that is dedicated to developing plans in accordance with the given recommendations.

Two instances of challenging situations in the Navy

The two new classes of nuclear-powered submarines that are a part of the Navy’s fleet expansion program are unrealistically over budgeted and lagging behind schedule. Such submarines are a crucial part of US efforts to deal with nuclear threats from adversaries and remain insulated from all sorts of deadliest maritime threats.

The Virginia class submarine (Block V) has got a capability to compensate for 10 submarines. It production is awaited since 2019. The goal that has been set by the Navy is of producing two submarines per year. With this rate it is expected that the Navy will meet its target by 2028.

However, in June 2024, it was found that the program’s rate of production was at about 60% of its annual goal—making it lag years behind the schedule.

The limited capacity of the shipbuilders is the reason why they miss the construction deadlines resulting in further delays. The shipbuilders have been facing a shortage of workforce resulting in slowed progress. Although, the shipbuilders are outsourcing some of their work to other shipbuilders, such workforce delays are taking a heavy toll on the taxpayers’ money. According to an estimate, a sum of around $530 million more might be required to complete the first two submarines falling under this category.

The Columbia class submarine program has also been subjected to delays and is likely to cost an enormous amount of capital that comes from the tax payer’s money.

Twelve nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines were earlier planned to be purchased by Navy. The first of this class of submarines might become operational by 2030. In September 2024 it was reported that construction consistently fell short of targets and the submarine’s production might be delayed by a year or so. Capacity challenges among shipbuilders and the limitations of the companies that supply them with materials result in delays in meeting the deadlines. Without addressing these issues, it’s sure that the price for these submarines will continue to surge along with delays that slow down their production.