GC shipyards garner attention

GULF COAST - Ingalls Shipbuilding President Kari Wilkinson hopped from a large gray van to show off the Pascagoula, Miss., shipyard to a group of U.S. Senate staff members on a so-called tour of Gulf Coast shipbuilding sites. 

Wilkinson oversees the largest shipbuilder on the Gulf Coast. The 800-acre yard employs more than 11,000 workers and provides most of the Navy’s surface combatants. 

Staffers came to see the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock. 

The delegation also visited Bollinger Shipyards, where they will construct the Coast Guard’s next polar security cutter. 

Later, Chairman of the House Readiness Subcommittee, Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) visited Eastern Shipbuilding in NW Florida where they construct the CG’s next offshore patrol cutter. 

Another group of House staffers traveled to Mobile, Ala., to call on Austal USA, which is preparing to construct modules for the Virginia- and Columbia-class submarines. 

The flurry of trips shows Capitol Hill’s intensified attention to shipbuilding, with several lawmakers from the Gulf Coast states and other shipbuilding states assuming key leadership positions on congressional defense committees.

They've made it clear they want to maximize ship production and repair lines, and some have proposed spending billions to upgrade shipyard infrastructure; and expand the workforce for multi-year, multi-ship procurement contracts. 

Those lawmakers include Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Rep. Trent Kelly (R-Miss.) and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.). 

“It is time for the U.S. Congress to lead this nation in expanding the shipbuilding-industrial base,” Wicker said in March outlining his priorities as Republican leader on the Senate Armed Services Committee. 

Congress has so far made piecemeal efforts to grow the shipbuilding-industrial base. 

“Congress must invest in workforce development, yard capabilities and advanced equipment to build a formidable fleet capable of deterring China and projecting global power,” Wicker told Defense News. 

Congress appropriated $380M in FY 2023 and $215M in FY-21 to expand shipyard infrastructure for Arleigh Burke-class destroyer production. 

Wicker is one of the most vocal opponents on Capitol Hill of the Pentagon’s attempt to pause production on amphibious ship procurement despite objections from the Marine Corps. 

The service asked for $1.7B in its unfunded priority list to finish buying the LPD-33, the next San Antonio-class ship in the line, which is manufactured at Ingalls.

DoD questioned the 31-ship fleet requirement. It’s conducting a study to determine whether to continue buying them and what capabilities they’d have. (Defense News 06/14/23) Key lawmakers flex new positions to bolster shipbuilding industry (defensenews.com)