Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao delivers remarks during the commissioning ceremony of the USS Idaho (SSN-799) on April 25. Under Cao, the Navy has confirmed its interest in foreign shipbuilding partnerships. (US Navy/John Narewski)

It’s Official: The US Navy Is Considering Foreign Shipbuilding

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The US Navy’s newest shipbuilding plan explicitly announces that the service will “evaluate overseas options” for constructing US Navy vessels, an unprecedented step.

The US Navy is at its lowest hull number since before World War I, and the problem won’t be easy to resolve.

It isn’t a matter of simply funding naval expansion, which the proposed $1.5 billion Pentagon budget for fiscal year 2027 (FY27) could address. The bigger issue is the lack of shipyards. The country has lost nearly all its major shipyards that support the US Navy; 14 major US defense-related shipyards have closed since the 1970s, with only one opening in the same time period. The country doesn’t have the shipyards to build the Golden Fleet, which could include up to 15 nuclear-powered Trump-class battleships, as part of the current 30-year shipbuilding plan.

US Navy officials have recognized the problem, and could turn to a solution first proposed during the Biden administration: building US Navy ships abroad.

“Building and maintaining ships in America is central to the president’s vision and strengthens the nation’s industrial base,” the US Navy’s new shipbuilding plan, released earlier in the week, read. “While American........

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