In any high-stakes military conflict with China, the U.S. Navy will be critical to winning. But America’s shipbuilding industry is far from able to support what the U.S. Navy needs.
Enter South Korean shipbuilding powerhouse Hanwha Ocean. The company is buying a former U.S. Navy shipyard in Philadelphia and recently secured South Korea’s first-ever contract to overhaul a U.S. naval vessel. These steps pave the way for the company to play a bigger role in the U.S. naval shipbuilding sector and could herald the start of a new wave of investment.
America’s shipbuilding industry has virtually collapsed over the last generation, with yearslong delays and cost overruns making it hard for the U.S. Navy to build the ships and submarines it needs. In contrast, China’s navy — supported by the world’s largest shipbuilding sector which produces more than half of merchant ships globally — is rapidly growing and now has a larger fleet than the U.S.
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