Paxton Weighs In on Foreign Partners and the Future of Shipbuilding

Matt Paxton, Partner-in-Charge of the Adams & Reese Washington, DC, office and President of the Shipbuilders Council of America, joined the CavasShips Podcast for a bonus segment examining the benefits and drawbacks of foreign shipbuilding partners. The episode, hosted by Christopher P. Cavas and Chris Servello, aired as part of the podcast's weekly look at naval and maritime events across the United States and around the world.

In their conversation, Paxton referenced his recent op-ed, "Don't Outsource America's Shipbuilding Advantage," to explain that building ships overseas and integrating them into the fleet is more complicated than proponents suggest, given differences in supply chains, sustainment needs, and interoperability. He also noted that Navy vessels are built to a different standard than the commercial ships produced by South Korean and Japanese yards, given the complexity added by systems like the SPY-6 radar on the DDG Flight III. He was careful to distinguish this view from opposition to allied cooperation, noting the United States' long-standing partnerships with foreign shipbuilders such as Fincantieri, Austal, BAE, and Hanwha Philly. He argued that incentivizing those partners to invest capital in U.S. facilities, rather than building a lead ship overseas, would do more to grow domestic capacity and workforce. 

Paxton also noted that surface ship maintenance and modernization capacity remains underutilized, and that non-traditional facilities, such as a submarine module site in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, are helping expand the industrial base. He pointed to pending measures like the SHIPS Act and Maritime Action Plan as reasons for optimism that current investment momentum can be sustained. He closed by backing the Vessel Construction Manager model used on the Navy's Medium Landing Ship program, so long as acquisition reform keeps the process less bureaucratic and ships get delivered to service members. 
Paxton's appearance reflects his ongoing engagement with the issues shaping the maritime and shipbuilding industries, from workforce and technology trends to the policy questions surrounding foreign investment and partnership in U.S. shipbuilding.

Listen to the full episode here: CAVASSHIPS Podcast Ep: 251 Shipbuilding Technology, Trends and Foreign Partners w/ Dave Lewis & Matt Paxton - Defense & Aerospace Report.