Industrial policy and supply chains
2026-04-26
11 minute read
16 sources
US Shipbuilding Revival 2026: The Jones Act Fleet, Korea, and the 381 Ship Question
A 295 ship Navy, a 92 vessel Jones Act fleet averaging 21 years old, and a Chinese yard sector that took half of global tonnage. The 2026 revival depends on Korean and Japanese capital, a USD 250 billion SHIPS Act, and a workforce gap of 100,000 hands.
The US Navy entered fiscal 2026 with 295 active ships, a 30 year shipbuilding plan that targets 381 hulls by 2054, and a Constellation class frigate program that GAO confirmed in August 2024 was running three years late at 25 percent design completion. The submarine industrial base produced 1.2 Virginia class boats per year against a targ...