WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Senate Armed Services subcommittee (SASC) hearing on sea power, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) discussed the importance of supporting our nation’s shipbuilding capacity with senior U.S. Navy and government personnel. In a conversation with witnesses Dr. Brett A. Seidle, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition, and Shelby S. Oakley, Director of Contracting and National Security Acquisitions at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), King confirmed the Navy’s willingness to support the shipbuilding workforce through investments in childcare, housing, and professional development.

“If I were to list the three biggest problems right now in developing shipyard capacity, the first would be workforce, the second would be workforce, the third would be workforce. The Navy has to be thinking in unconventional ways. For example, one of the most important things to develop workforce is to have childcare facilities, parking, housing in the area. We've had people recruited to Bath who get there and cannot find a place to live. I believe that has to be part of the mentality of developing the workforce. And then of course training and all those details that go to attracting people in this economy. Finally, on the development of the infrastructure, it is the infrastructure itself. There has to be a joint investment in the private shipyards and the Navy in terms of infrastructure buildings, more efficient layout of the facility, and those kind of steps are very important. I'm giving you advice, but this is based on my experiences working with the shipyards…My final question is to GAO. You mentioned 60 or so recommendations that have not been followed. What are the top three recommendations that if you were pressed you think would make a difference?,” Senator King asked.

“You’re really pressing my memory on 60 recommendations, but I think most pressing in the front of my mind are our recommendations related to design and the changes we would like to see the Navy make with regard to like you said, ensuring the design is finalized before we are awarding a contract for construction and before we are starting to bend metal. Because the problems arise when those design changes creep in as the pressures of a fixed price contract begin to mount. That leads to challenges overall. It is exactly what we are seeing with the frigate program. We made adjustments to the Navy that they ensure that they have matured their basic and functional design before awarding the contract for detailed design and construction. Another recommendation we made was related to ensuring that detailed design on each individual block is finished before you begin construction on that block. Most of those recommendations are aimed at ensuring that there is less of a likelihood these surprises will pop up at a time where the pressure will be high to continue to proceed because of schedule or money challenges,” responded Director Oakley.

Senator King also asked Acting Assistant Secretary Seidle about his support for a smooth transition between ship designs to ensure workforce and production sustainability.

“A couple of technical observations before I get to the broader questions. One is, as you know, DDX is in the design stage and the concern from the point of view of the shipyards, both in Bath and Mississippi, is there would be a smooth transition between DDG 51 and DDX. What concerns us is a timing trough because you cannot turn on and turn off welders. I hope as you plan out the transition process, that it is top of mind. It would be disastrous for the yards if there was a lag in demand between the two ships. Are you with me on that?” asked Senator King.

“Yes. We saw the lessons from DDG 51, to DDG 1000 back in the day, and how some of that worked out. We will clearly be intentional about the transition of DDG 51 to DDGX to keep the production line to feather in DDG X and then only taper out DDG 51 when it is ready,” replied Acting Assistant Secretary Seidle.

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator King has championed funding for both Bath Iron Works (BIW) and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY). Recently, Senator King and Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, discussed the importance of utilizing lessons from the private sector to maintain best practices for ship designing, building, and maintenance. Last year, he strongly urged Mr. Frederick J. Stefany, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition to prioritize long-term investments in the defense industrial base – including Bath Iron Works—to avoid a ‘trough’ between contracted work, resulting in a likely loss of workers and threatening American national security. In the enacted FY2025 National Defense Authorization Act, Senator King secured authorization for the procurement of an addition DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that Bath Iron Works will build.

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