SHIPBUILDINGWhy the United States, South Korea, and Japan Must Cooperate on Shipbuilding

By Miyeon Oh and Michael Cecire

The tides of naval power are shifting as China’s shipyards churn out warships at an unprecedented pace, leveraging its massive commercial shipbuilding base, direct government funding, and integrated military-industrial strategy. To counter this, the United States, South Korea, and Japan should form a shipbuilding alliance.

The United States cannot compete with China alone. The U.S. shipbuilding industry needs a comprehensive strategy to strengthen American supply chains both during peacetime and wartime. To rebuild the U.S. shipyard industrial base, as well as to make U.S. vessels commercially competitive in the global market in the long run, the United States must turn to allies who already possess the industrial capacity, expertise, and motivation to help close the gap.

South Korea and Japan, two of the closest U.S. allies and the world’s most formidable shipbuilding nations, stand ready and willing to bolster allied maritime power. Together, the three countries could form a natural industrial alliance capable of revitalizing U.S. maritime dominance through friendshoring/onshoring, joint production and investment, and technological integration.

While the United States continues to field world-class naval ships and submarines, its ability to acquire those platforms on budget and on time continues to be a major challenge. Congress has held hearings, legislation has been proposed, and the Pentagon has issued warnings about China’s erosion of U.S. naval superiority in the region. As the United States still lacks a coherent industrial strategy to match China’s breakneck pace, the Trump administration issued a new executive order that seeks to counter China’s shipbuilding dominance.

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“While the United States continues to field world-class naval ships and submarines, its ability to acquire those platforms on budget and on time continues to be a major challenge.”
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The scale of China’s naval expansion is even more alarming. The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has already surpassed the U.S. Navy in fleet size, and it is building warships five times faster than the U.S. Navy. At the low and middle tiers of naval power—frigates, destroyers, and missile corvettes—China is fielding modern hulls faster than America can even lay down keels. One of the main drivers that has enabled China’s rapid naval expansion is Chinese integrated dual-use shipyards that produce both commercial and military vessels. China State Shipbuilding Corporation has multiple shipyards that share infrastructure and workforce, allowing for rapid switching between commercial and military production lines. This is mandated by the Chinese government’s Military-Civil Fusion strategy.