Military Shipbuilding & Yard Capacities

[bobbymike]

Can the US build three destroyers a year? | Shephard

In the FY2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the US funded procurement of three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers a year, but can industry achieve that goal?

www.shephardmedia.com

 

[sferrin]

Can the US build three destroyers a year? | Shephard

In the FY2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the US funded procurement of three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers a year, but can industry achieve that goal?

www.shephardmedia.com

https://twitter.com/x/status/1618653335514673154

View: https://twitter.com/tshugart3/status/1618653335514673154

 

[sferrin]

ANALYSIS: Shipyard Capacity, China’s Naval Buildup Worries U.S. Military Leaders

ANALYSIS: Shipyard Capacity, China’s Naval Buildup Worries U.S. Military Leaders

www.nationaldefensemagazine.org

Oh it gets better. Here is Electric Boat superimposed over the new Chinese submarine building halls. To scale:



And they're still adding to it:

 

[sferrin]

ANALYSIS: Shipyard Capacity, China’s Naval Buildup Worries U.S. Military Leaders

ANALYSIS: Shipyard Capacity, China’s Naval Buildup Worries U.S. Military Leaders

www.nationaldefensemagazine.org

Oh it gets better. Here is Electric Boat superimposed over the new Chinese submarine building halls. To scale::

View attachment 692016

Based on that it looks like they could have at LEAST 12 SSNs/SSBNs under construction concurrently. Those buildings are nearly 1000' long. This isn't just a "build a few a year" setup. This is an ASSEMBLY LINE.

 

[Kat Tsun]

Very cool. The PLAN Submarine Force might have 30 to 40 688i equivalent boats by by the mid-'30's at that rate. That's assuming the PLAN has finally decided on a SSN to serially produce, instead of just building nuclear testbeds, of course. All that remains to be conquered is the somewhat daunting task that the PLAN Submarine Force is immensely lazy wrt maintenance.

That said it's probably for the Type 096s. The PLAN building a dozen of them to match the USN silo for silo with JL-3s is more sensible.

 

[DrRansom]

The shipbuilding values comparison between China and the US is obscene, slaughter rule levels.

Kat Tsun - I wonder if China has held off on submarine construction until it reached a design it was comfortable with. Something akin to their aircraft industry, half-hearted production until they achieve some desirable capability.

Northrop Grumman makes play to add power, space on DDGs for weapons

A single power control system for multiple shipboard weapons would free up space and weight to allow for lasers and other new weapons, the company says.

www.defensenews.com

One gets a whiff of desperation here.

But who's desperate? NG, the USN, or both?

Why_Not_Both.png

 

[sferrin]

Classes under construction in China:


Type 055
Type 052D or 052DL
The new frigate 054B (still under production);
Type 054A
The smallest one is Type 056 corvette.

 

[Moose]

I appreciate the PLAN shipbuilding discussion, but it should be split into its own discussion so that this thread can remain (somewhat) focused on USN efforts to up-arm their surface combatants.

 

[Forest Green]

I appreciate the PLAN shipbuilding discussion, but it should be split into its own discussion so that this thread can remain (somewhat) focused on USN efforts to up-arm their surface combatants.

Or NATO efforts maybe.

 

[DrRansom]

I see that the designs are shifting towards open-ocean designs, rather striking designs.

 

[bobbymike]

Keeping an Eye on the Long Game: Part XCVI

time moves faster than you think

cdrsalamander.substack.com

 

[Maro.Kyo]

Japan, South Korea and the US should mirror AUKUS for destroyers

Opinion: But before breaking a celebratory bottle of champagne across the bow, obstacles must be addressed.

www.defensenews.com

I'm pretty sure any such attempt will be shot down by the law, and even if not, the congressmen, but to meet USN expansion needs, I don't think there's really any other reaspnable option.

 

[Maro.Kyo]

SECNAV floats idea of co-production with foreign shipyards - Breaking Defense

Carlos Del Toro has repeatedly praised shipbuilders in South Korea and Japan for their abilities to keep construction efforts on time.

breakingdefense.com

Seems like the idea is not dead, but actually being echoed by higher-ups of the Navy. If anything, it seems like that the USN is really feeling the lack of capacity.

While on the other hand

Outsourcing the US shipyard industrial base will outsource American sovereignty - Breaking Defense

In this op-ed, Matthew Paxton of the Shipbuilders Council of America explains why the US needs to build up its Navy by increasing domestic shipbuilding.

breakingdefense.com

Note that this is an opinion piece by someone from the Shipbuilder Council of America, so it is obviously going to be against any kind of shipbuilding abroad, though it's interesting to see that it argues that there is "an underutilized capacity".