Exclusive: US Department of Defense Urges Shipbuilding Overhaul Amid Growing Chinese Naval Threat.

In a bid to maintain maritime superiority in the face of growing global threats—chief among them, the expanding naval power of China—the United States Navy is urgently seeking to streamline its conventional shipbuilding enterprise, citing mounting delays, budget overruns, and critical workforce and supply chain challenges, according to testimony delivered by U.S. Navy officials before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower on March 25, 2025.
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Shipbuilders at Newport News Shipbuilding work on a U.S. Navy vessel — part of the Navy’s intensified efforts to streamline production and expand fleet capabilities amid China’s accelerating naval buildup. (Picture source: U.S. DoD)

Brett A. Seidle, Acting Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition, delivered a stark assessment of the U.S. Navy’s current shipbuilding landscape during a hearing before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower on March 25, 2025.

“The backbone of a strong U.S. Navy is its shipbuilding enterprise,” Seidle stated, emphasizing that America's global military posture—and by extension, its ability to influence geopolitics and defend the American way of life—is intrinsically linked to the U.S. Navy’s shipbuilding capacity. “We have fielded the finest Navy ever assembled in the history of the world, and I believe that is still true,” he said.

However, Seidle cautioned that this naval dominance is under increasing strain. Rising global competition, particularly the rapid modernization of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), is putting pressure on the U.S. to accelerate its shipbuilding tempo. China's fleet, now numerically larger than the U.S. Navy, is supported by state-subsidized shipyards and a centralized industrial policy that enables high-volume, rapid production of advanced vessels.

As of the end of 2023, the PLAN’s fleet had grown to approximately 370 ships, surpassing the U.S. Navy’s 296-ship battle force. Projections by the U.S. Department of Defense estimate China’s fleet could expand to 395 vessels by the end of 2025 and exceed 435 by 2030. These include new-generation aircraft carriers, advanced destroyers such as the Type 055, amphibious assault ships, and a growing fleet of nuclear-powered submarines—all of which significantly enhance China’s ability to project naval power in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

In contrast, the U.S. Navy's 2025 shipbuilding plan projects a temporary decline to 283 ships by 2027, despite a long-term goal of reaching 390 ships by 2054. These figures underscore the urgent need to overhaul America’s shipbuilding infrastructure and processes to keep pace with China’s maritime growth.

To respond, Seidle called for a reinvigoration of America's industrial might. “We need increased modernization, infrastructure investment, better workforce hiring and retention, and improved supply chain performance,” he said, pointing to systemic inefficiencies that have led to delays of one to three years across several ship programs and cost increases surpassing inflation rates.

The U.S. Navy currently has 92 ships under contract and 56 vessels actively under construction. Yet even this robust pipeline is not immune to setbacks. U.S. Navy Vice Adm. James P. Downey, Commander of U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), highlighted that the U.S. Navy faces “mounting challenges from shifting demographics and workforce shortages to supply chain disruptions” that are straining the production process.

Downey emphasized a need for strategic reforms in contracting and production methods. NAVSEA is now digitizing ship design plans to reduce manual workloads and is actively working with industry to simplify military specifications that often slow construction timelines. “We are evaluating contracting approaches and incentives while also centralizing data to better access what levers are needed to improve shipbuilding performance,” Downey said.

In parallel, the Chinese defense industry—led by the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC)—continues to benefit from scale, centralization, and commercial-military integration. In 2024 alone, CSSC produced more tonnage than the entire U.S. shipbuilding industry has since World War II, fueled in part by international contracts and state support. This vast industrial capacity enables China to sustain rapid fleet expansion and modernization with strategic intent.

The U.S. Navy’s push for reform comes at a critical moment in the Indo-Pacific region, where China's assertive actions in the South China Sea, its development of overseas naval bases, and its broader geopolitical ambitions are reshaping the maritime balance of power.

Against this backdrop, U.S. naval leadership is urging Congress and industrial partners to act decisively. Investments in shipyard infrastructure, modern workforce development programs, and more agile supply chains are being touted as essential to ensure the U.S. Navy remains prepared for high-end maritime conflict.

“When you visit the shipyards and speak to the workers... you understand what it means to them to build a great ship from the keel up,” Downey said. “That’s the product of teamwork in its purest form of execution.”

The future of U.S. naval dominance, he noted, depends not just on platforms and weapons, but on revitalizing the very system that builds them—a system that must now rise to meet the challenge posed by China’s growing maritime might.