COMMENTARY China

Marinette Shipyard Critical To Strengthen U.S. Navy Against Chinese Threat

Nov 5, 2024 3 min read

COMMENTARY BY

Wilson Beaver @WilsonCBeaver

Policy Advisor, Allison Center for National Security

Wilson is a Policy Advisor for defense budgeting at The Heritage Foundation.

Workers on a ship listen to President Trump speak following a tour of Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wisconsin on June 25, 2020. SAUL LOEB / Contributor / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

If China takes real action against Taiwan, will the United States be ready? And what does this have to do with Wisconsin?

Most Americans don’t know this, but China now has the largest navy in the world.

Building a strong U.S. Navy is key to a successful deterrence strategy in the Indo-Pacific.

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Earlier this month, China deployed an impressive fleet in force around America’s ally, Taiwan, simulating a blockade and issuing “a major warning to those who back Taiwan independence.” But this was just a simulation. The real question is: If China takes real action against Taiwan, will the United States be ready? And what does this have to do with Wisconsin?

The answer is complicated. Most Americans don’t know this, but China now has the largest navy in the world. While American ships are still higher quality, quantity has a quality all its own, and the U.S. Navy is in desperate need of more warships. To that end, the Navy is building a new class of frigates, intended to be built faster and at lower cost than current classes of U.S. Navy warships.

Marinette, Wisconsin, is the only shipyard in the country building the Navy’s new Constellation-class frigate. The Navy is currently only producing these frigates at a planned rate of one a year, but leadership is hoping to expand production of the Constellation-class frigate as soon as possible, aiming for four frigates a year. Two of those would be built in Marinette and two more built at a second shipyard elsewhere.

Millions from Navy contracts could be coming to Wisconsin

If the Navy and Congress follow through with the increase, that could mean a big influx of capital for this small Wisconsin town. In 2020, Fincantieri Marinette Marine’s contract for design and construction of the first ship alone was worth $795 million. It could also mean more jobs. To build an additional ship every year, Marinette’s shipyard would need to hire new welders and other employees to accommodate this planned production expansion.

But that is a big “if,” and there remain many obstacles to the Navy’s expansion of the Constellation-class frigate program. For example, finding skilled workers and overregulation make shipbuilding unnecessarily difficult and expensive. Another issue is that the Navy has added too many requirements to the Constellation-class frigate, effectively changing the ship so much from the original design that it is — for all intents and purposes — an entirely new ship. Coming back to a shipbuilder repeatedly after construction has begun and adding even more requirements causes both production delays and cost overruns.

The good news is, there are simple solutions that can help small towns like Marinette to restore America’s Navy.

To make it easier to find skilled workers, for example, one initiative that both federal and state governments can take to assist shipyards like Marinette is to redirect existing federal education spending to training for critical defense tasks like welding and engineering. Likewise, reducing the overly restrictive regulatory burdens on shipbuilders would help reduce overall costs.

To solve the problem of adding too many requirements, the Senate Armed Service’s Committee can move to require the Navy to certify that the design of the frigate is complete before they authorize any new funding for the program. This will help encourage the Navy to move quickly, thus avoiding cost overruns and unnecessary delays.

America needs Wisconsin shipyards to enhance global security

These solutions are important because America needs shipyards like the one in Marinette to be effective. Building a strong U.S. Navy is key to a successful deterrence strategy in the Indo-Pacific, which is why prominent conservative organizations like The Heritage Foundation are supporting dramatic increases in shipbuilding that would benefit towns like Marinette.

To facilitate that increase, conservatives are advocating for large block buys of American ships. Block buys have historically reduced costs long-term and encouraged shipbuilders to invest in additional shipyard infrastructure based on marginal revenue and anticipated profits.

If the Navy, Congress, state legislators, and industry all do their part, Marinette will soon be building two frigates a year, and in the long run, perhaps even more. This new class of frigate will allow for a more efficient distribution of missions across the fleet, and free up the currently overtasked Arleigh Burke-class destroyers for critical high-end missions. That would be a win-win, for America and for Wisconsin.

This piece originally appeared in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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