Shipbuilding and Repair: Navy Needs a Strategic Approach for Private Sector Industrial Base Investments

Abstract

The Navy relies on private companies in the defense industrial base to build—and in many cases—repair its ships. In an era of strategic competition with adversary nations, performance in both shipbuilding and ship repair is critical to achieving the Navy’s desired future fleet. However, GAO’s recent work has shown that the Navy continues to fall short of its goals in these areas. To achieve its goals for the future fleet, the Navy—in partnership with the ship industrial base—will need to reverse these trends. For its current report, anticipated to be published in January 2025, GAO examined the ship industrial base’s ability to meet the Navy’s shipbuilding and ship repair goals, including by conducting 50 interviews with government offices and private companies.