Posted on 03/20/2025 6:54:10 PM PDT by FreedomNotSafety
A blizzard of design changes by the military have put production of the USS Constellation years behind schedule and millions over budget. Labor shortages, old equipment and rising steel costs aren’t helping the industry. When a Wisconsin shipyard won the contract to build a new class of Navy frigate in 2020, the project was meant to address an embarrassing reality: The U.S. is now the global laggard in building warships.
Stocked with high-tech weaponry to protect against enemy submarines, missiles and drones, the USS Constellation was expected to be ready for the open water in 2026. That was because the U.S. chose a proven design from Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri in an effort to speed the process.
Then the Navy started tinkering.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
No amount of tariffs are going to get us on a war footing. We need more ships now. If we can’t build them then we’d better let the Koreans build them.
Start with more shipyards here, so we can build our own. Use our own steel, great for American jobs as well. No reason in the world we should have let ourselves get so far in the hole.
Revamped Wisconsin shipyard. ENuff said.
Shipyard in Wisconsin building a frigate that will roam the lakes looking for Canadians says a lot about the navy. And ther is a coast guard station in philly. just saying. about 60 miles inland.
Fighter jets aren’t the only procurement that has to advance to the next gen.
“No amount of tariffs are going to get us on a war footing. We need more ships now. If we can’t build them then we’d better let the Koreans build them.”
True, and many inactive ships have not yet been scrapped. Perhaps it’s time to ‘un-inactive’ them too?
“Start with more shipyards here, so we can build our own. Use our own steel, great for American jobs as well. No reason in the world we should have let ourselves get so far in the hole.”
Get the Labor Unions out of the way (ideally, dissolved) and then we’ll be able to not only get them built, we’ll be able to get them built QUICKLY and far CHEAPER.
Any contractors related to any politician?
btt
Wisconsin was a major source for submarines during WWII. There used to be a special award for sailors who had submerged in all 5 Great Lakes. (Order of the Muskie IIRC)
“Wisconsin was a major source for submarines during WWII. There used to be a special award for sailors who had submerged in all 5 Great Lakes. (Order of the Muskie IIRC)”
The Wisconsin boats were floated down the Mississippi before being outfitted.
The first boat to get the Order of the Muskie was built in Groton, CT.
Same article via MSN:
Personally I’m of the opinion that warships are the last war’s technology. We’ve seen that tanks are outdated, in the Ukraine/Russia conflict. Perhaps the key is space-based or extremely high-altitude weaponry.
The great thing about printed, fiat money and massive government debt - everyone gets paid regardless of how slow, lazy or incompetent they are.
China makes 12 times as much steel as us, and in 2024, they built more ships than we have since WWII. To be fair, after WWII we had a giant Navy and could coast for several years.
But it’s a big problem. Domestic production of steel is on life support in America. I think Trump knows that. The Canadian and Mexican tariffs are designed to stop Chinese end runs by shipping to NAFTA, doing some minor process and bringing into America duty free.
do you have any stats on the numbers of their ships and the classes of each?
https://www.eurasiantimes.com/ship-wars-china-builds-more-vessels-by-tonnage/#google_vignette
Here is where I saw that.
And I just saw this. Look like commercial shipping by far.
https://www.virtuemarine.nl/post/top-10-maritime-nations-leading-the-shipbuilding-industry
China’s Dominance in Ship Construction
China’s shipbuilding sector has achieved remarkable feats, producing more than half of the world’s merchant ships. As of early 2023, Chinese shipyards had orders for an impressive 1,794 large commercial vessels. This surpasses (by far) the combined orders of South Korea (734) and Japan (587). To put it in context, the United States had only 5 such orders.
By Country
Large Commercial Ship Orders (Early 2023)
China 1,794
South Korea 734
Japan 587
United States 5
Everything in Western countries has been allowed to run down. Trump has correctly identified shipbuilding as a priority, but it is a deep hole.
Canada just let the contract for 3 new River class destroyers. total cost $22 billion. ($CDN, but still)
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