Navy warship production in worst state in 25 years. What's behind it?
Story by David Sharp, The Associated Press • 15h •
The Navy's ability to build lower-cost warships that can shoot down Houthi rebel missiles in the Red Sea depends in part on a 25-year-old laborer who previously made parts for garbage trucks.
Lucas Andreini, a welder at Fincantieri Marinette Marine, in Marinette, Wisconsin, is among thousands of young workers who've received employer-sponsored training nationwide as shipyards struggle to hire and retain employees.
The labor shortage is one of myriad challenges that have led to backlogs in ship production and maintenance at a time when the Navy faces expanding global threats. Combined with shifting defense priorities, last-minute design changes and cost overruns, it has put the U.S. behind China in the number of ships at its disposal - and the gap is widening.
Navy shipbuilding is currently in "a terrible state" - the worst in a quarter century, says Eric Labs, a longtime naval analyst at the Congressional Budget Office.
"I feel alarmed," he said. "I don't see a fast, easy way to get out of this problem. It's taken us a long time to get into it."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/navy-warship-production-in-worst-state-in-25-years-what-s-behind-it/ar-AA1oCn5s?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=HCTS&cvid=8ab873b3099d44c7bdeca1f346db8628&ei=40
