Big Fleets Start With a Healthy Industry

In January 2005, then Secretary of the Navy Gordon England said the following statement:

“[The decision to close a shipyard]...is up to industry. We don’t define the industrial base. It’s up to the market to arrive at these conclusions…it’s a commercial world, and they make commercial decisions.”

Gordon England demonstrated enormous ignorance by completely failing to recognize the importance in the relationship between the condition of the industry to the quality of the Navy it built. That quote sums up shipbuilding problems in the 21st century better than most you could find.

Compare that disconnected relationship mentality demonstrated by Gordon England to the focus of the Indian Navy.

Navy has suggested to the government that India acquire the knowhow to build super tankers and seek transfer of this technology to build the same tonnage warships on the pattern of US carriers.

"We have submitted a comprehensive Plan to the government seeking rapid expansion of shipbuilding capacity. We have to graduate to the level of building super tankers and transfer the same technology to warship building," Naval Chief Sureesh Mehta said on Sunday.

"Urgent steps need to be taken to drastically expand the capacity of existing shipyards and more shipyards need to come up," the Naval Chief Admiral said.

The existing shipyards are hardly able to manage an increasing demand of the Navy, and if steps were not taken, the expansion of the country's maritime force would be restricted in the near future, he said.

The focus isn't just to increase the capacity of existing shipyards, but build new ones, and build a bunch of ships that integrate the latest commercial technology with the hope this will translate to better capability in building warships.

India has an energy shipping plan known as Hydrocarbon Vision-2025, which basically says India will be importing around 82 million tons of natural gas by 2012, and 84 million tons by 2025. India already imports around 100 million metric tons (MMT) of crude oil, which is expected to increase to 348 million metric tons (MMT) of crude oil by 2025. To carry out that plan, India requires 25 super tankers by 2012, and 34 super tankers by 2025.

However, it isn't simply the need for super tankers, India is a growing economy with interests that extend to its capability to domestically produce a Navy. Considering the problems India is having with shipbuilding in Russia, clearly India is looking to get out of the dependency business at sea.

Mehta said the Indian navy will not only maintain the force level but increase the number, as well, in view of the “expanding maritime responsibilities and interests.”

The Indian navy fleet includes about140 vessels, including one aircraft carrier, 21 surface combatants, three fleet tankers, eight guided-missile corvettes, six offshore patrol vessels, eight amphibious ships, 16 submarines, 17 fast-attack craft and 57 other combatants.

A navy official said it will be difficult to maintain even the current force levels over the next 10 years as aging ships, mostly Russian, are being decommissioned at a faster pace than new warships are being inducted.

Besides, India’s long coastline means the navy needs to bolster its long-range surveillance capability to watch movements in the region between the Horn of Africa and Malacca Straits, and even in the South China Sea, the official said.

Looking to the future, Mehta said, “India’s rise as an economic power must necessarily coincide with her resurgence as a maritime power.”

India gets it on shipbuilding. Until SECNAV Winters, I'm not sure we did. There are a couple things here.

This is a clear signal that India has every intention of being a major maritime power in the 21st century. It is unclear what relationship India and the US will have in the future, currently it can be described as neither friend or foe, with mutual interests and mutual threats, and each is a threat to the interests of the other. It has been reported that at least 1, perhaps 2 SSNs will be leased to India from Russia. India is building a 45,000 ton aircraft carrier they required help from Italy to design and barely have a shipyard big enough to build. The carrier being built, or refurbished, in Russia is indefinitely delayed.

It is interesting to note that while India is looking to build shipyards, they don't seem to care if the shipbuilding companies are foreign owned. I could see US defense contractors attempt to make a move... However, this is also very smart. By bringing in foreign competition to jump start the Indian shipbuilding industry, India will ultimately be able to rapidly expand its shipbuilding industry. Noteworthy here is that this might also make a major contribution in assisting where India is weak, specifically in design, because it is possible India will be able to capitalize on existing designs.

It goes back to that argument, should the US Congress encourage companies like Navantia or Kockums set up a yard in the US? I'm not sure it would be financially worth it while the US domestic shipbuilding industry is slow, but like India we are very dependent upon maritime trade, and there is growing demand for commercial maritime ships. It would take some work to get the US competitive in that market again, but it has been said it can be done.