The U.S. Navy is keen on pursuing opportunities to engage foreign shipbuilders to manufacture some components for American warships, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said at a Stimson Center event in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday.
To stress the possibility of such a partnership, Del Toro cited as an example the aircraft industry wherein one project has the planes’ engines made in India for assembly in the United States.
Del Toro’s pitch for a collaboration with foreign shipbuilders follows similar comments during his visit to shipyards in South Korea and Japan, Breaking Defense said. The secretary also supports inviting the countries’ shipbuilders to invest in U.S. shipyards, the report added.
The development aligns with a strategic partnership HD Hyundai Heavy Industries recently forged with Anduril Industries to deliver a new class of autonomous naval systems for their U.S. and South Korean military customers.
Del Toro, a past Potomac Officers Club event speaker and a 2024 Wash100 winner, noted during the recent AFCEA West 2024 conference that 150,000 new shipbuilders are needed in the next 10 years to maintain the U.S. Navy fleet.
The Navy secretary has also released a 45-day shipbuilding review confirming years of delay on the service branch’s major shipbuilding projects.
Under Del Toro, the Navy’s priorities as defined in the fiscal year 2025 budget include building six battle force ships, continued funding for two planned Ford-class aircraft carriers and a second Columbia-class submarine, and advanced procurement for an additional 10 ships.
