Yesterday, the President signed a historic Presidential shipbuilding memo. Here are two main reasons: 1) The Ford class is too costly & takes too long to build. Lead ships typically cost the most but the Fords are costlier with each one. $13B for the initial Ford, then $15B for the Kennedy & Enterprise, & $18B expected for the Miller. And if we retire a Nimitz class every four years & replace them every 12 (at minimum based on projections), you have far fewer carriers. Not acceptable. 2) Our Navy shipyards are at capacity with major backlogs. A way to add capacity & competition is to entice foreign investment into new DOMESTIC shipyards by block buying with foreign companies that build the initial ships overseas and then build the rest here over time with permanent US capacity. The alternative? No additional ships from added capacity & ongoing backlog from limited competition. Time to try something different, which is the basis for the "Finland model" that began with the Coast Guard icebreakers & is now being extended to Navy ships. We need more ships!

Presidential shipbuilding memo signed, citing excessive cost and build times for Ford-class carriers. The memo proposes enticing foreign investment to build new domestic shipyards and block buying with foreign companies.