January 24, 2018
The US Navy’s New Frigate Should Jumpstart a Revitalization of the Defense Industrial Base
The United States Navy requires a frigate. Building this warship will strengthen our depleted naval fleet and reenergize a vital sector of the nation’s defense industrial base, especially in the Midwest “rust-belt” region of the nation.
In July, the Navy issued a request for information to shipbuilding manufacturers for a new frigate. Officials said they want a “mature design” — in other words, a proven ship. The service will even consider a foreign warship, so long as it is built in the United States by Americans. The United States has not been a global leader in shipbuilding for a generation. The new frigate program is an opportunity to bring new designs, new construction techniques, lower prices, and higher efficiency back to the U.S.shipbuilding industry. The frigate program also gives the Pentagon and contractors an opportunity to take a wider strategic look at the nation’s defense industrial base.
Such a strategic look at America’s defense industrial base was last performed by the Eisenhower Administration. Under Project Solarium, small teams of experts examined strategies for confronting the Soviet Union, and made specific and detailed recommendations for investing in the defense industrial base. A key component of their findings was that the nation must establish critical redundancies within a dispersed defense industrial base to ensure that the nation could continue to defend itself in the event of a massive Soviet attack.
Read the full op-ed in Defense One.
More from CNAS
-
What to Expect From U.S., Iran Talks Friday in Oman?
Video
Bloomberg's Becca Wasser & Wayne Sanders state they are not optimistic when discussing what they expect from the US and Iran when both countries speak Friday in Oman. They sug...
By Becca Wasser
-
Opposites Attract (and Execute)
Commentary
Introduction The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) in recent months has signaled interest in bringing new entrants into the defense industrial base (DIB), including venture-bac...
By Veronica Daigle & Grace Newsom
-
Samuel Bendett on Drones and the Future of War
Podcast
CNAS senior adjunct fellow Samuel Bendett joined the Revolution in Military Affairs podcast to discuss how drones impact warfare and the future of war. Listen to the full inte...
By Samuel Bendett
-
The Ever-Changing, Unchanged Defense Acquisition System
Commentary
Introduction The defense acquisition system has been and continues to be in a period of great change, both in terms of the laws and processes that govern it and the private se...
By Susanna V. Blume
