This study analyzes the structural reconfiguration of the U.S. naval shipbuilding industrial base through the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) and Strategic Inflection Point (SIP) frameworks. The U.S. naval shipbuilding industrial base faces a systemic transition crisis: chronic production delays of 24–36 months in Virginia-class and Columbia-class programs, a 26-fold cost disadvantage versus overseas commercial yards, and a workforce hollowed out from over 400 shipyards in the 1980s to merely 21 today. Under the Jones Act of 1920, a century of absolute protectionism created a deep ‘lock-in’ that insulated the regime from competitive innovation.
At the landscape level, China’s shipbuilding capacity—estimated at over 200 times that of the U.S.—and its operation of 234 major warships versus the U.S. Navy’s 219 constitute an existential geopolitical pressure.
This study identifies the Ensuring Naval Readiness Act as a Strategic Inflection Point that transitions the U.S. from autarkic protectionism to an alliance-integrated maritime security model. The key findings are as follows: First, integrating South Korea’s echo shipyard technologies and digital Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) capabilities can mitigate projected 12% dynamic productivity losses from geopolitical decoupling. Second, a comparative analysis of South Korea, Japan, and China reveals that East Asian state-led shipbuilding models— adapted into a ‘U.S.-type federated model’—offer the most viable pathway for regime reconfiguration, with South Korea providing the highest structural transferability. Third, four principal obstacles to Industry 4.0 adoption are identified—high initial capital expenditure (CAPEX), data interoperability barriers, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and workforce transition friction—along with targeted mitigation strategies including a phased GX(Green Transformation), AX(AI Transformation) Technology Readiness Level (TRL) investment approach, open-standard API mandates, CMMC Level 3 compliance, and a Reskilling-First implementation protocol.
The study concludes that the U.S. must shift from a closed domestic regime to a strategic node in a global security ecosystem in order to preserve its maritime dominance.