Ruling the Waves
In 2006, China's shipbuilding firms ranked third in the world — for the 12th straight year. In fact, China's shipbuilding manufacturers last year yielded output of 14.52 billion deadweight tons, captured 42.51 billion deadweight tons of new orders and had a total of 68.72 billion deadweight tons on their order books, accounting respectively for 19 percent, 30 percent and 24 percent of the global market, according to Jin Zhuanglong, vice minister of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, as reported by People's Daily Online.

Interestingly, commission statistics show that of the nearly 3,000 Chinese shipbuilding enterprises in the country, only 431 are large ones. Booming market demand has boosted the growth of small and medium-sized firms.

The American shipbuilding companies, on the other hand, have repeatedly delayed projects and come in way over budget. In contrast, like the Chinese, the European shipbuilders have improved markedly, as IMT reported in the fall.

Launching new ships requires shipbuilders who can deliver a quality product on time and within budget. This has proved a particularly tough task for American shipyards. The Navy's Secretary Donald Winter recently slammed industry for not investing in U.S. shipyards, and he called for his department to re-assert control over acquisition programs. As Wired notes, Winter said the current shipbuilding program is "simply not meeting our expectations." But there's plenty of blame to go around, it seems. Wired added Winter's belief that the Navy has eroded its expertise in shipbuilding and system engineering and has developed a bad habit of relying too much on contractors; moreover, that the Pentagon has a limited understanding of how business operates, how it responds to competition, and how it is affected by Wall Street's expectations.

The U.S. Navy had 568 ships in the late 1980s, according to National Review Online; today it has 276. The U.S. Navy will work through US$12 billion to upgrade its fleet.

The Littoral Combat Ship, for close-to-shore threats and providing access and dominance in coastal water battle-space, is an example of a key item recently introduced. The Navy has also contracted for the building of a larger ship — LPD-17 San Antonio Class — for littoral service.


The transformation of the Navy's surface combatant fleet starts with highly capable, multi-mission Destroyers, advanced Cruisers and a new breed of focused mission ships, the Littoral Combat Ship.

Also of note, and with tax dollars in mind, a new submarine — SSN-774 Virginia Class — is performing better than estimated. "The primary design driver for the NSSN is acoustic quietness equal to that of the Seawolf, even at the cost of reducing maximum top speed," according to Global Security. "With a focus on the littoral battlespace, the New Attack Submarine has improved magnetic stealth, sophisticated surveillance capabilities, and special warfare enhancements."