China has stronger capacity then we do building ships and we haven't yet made the commitement to strengthen our full industrial base. There are good ideas out there that can might be able to increase innovation (theoretically) and provide another location to build small and midsize ships (at least support it if nothing else). The issue isn't that we can't build the ships but haven't come up with a good strategy on how to make that happen.
To me, creating innovative clusters that fosters the development of needed industries rapidly is important. Its a theory that has been floating around (pun intended) for a while but the fish haven't bitten (another good pun). Also there are locations that such theories could be tested because they have a deep sea port, rail, airport, complementary ship manufacturing nearby (this cluster might have slightly differen skills), metal stamping, an older base with import capacity up the road, and a high quality of life that can attract engineers and designers (not to mention entrepreneurs that can seed new product lines).
Even if you don't build large ships there are smaller amphibious opportunities that would make sense with robotics, AI, and other new technologies. Build the ships or build the things they will carry. Either way build baby build!
If you haven't noticed while I'm a critic of many things I'm not a critic of our military (differentiating enhancement vs. criticism). They do the best in developing people that I have seen and they act with honor (only a few other institutions have a strong honor code.). Something others should learn from them. Anway... let us see if we take the steps toward revamping the industry.
Dwarfed by China in shipbuilding, US looks to build its defense base
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