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‘Wartime footing’: US Navy chief unveils Trump’s Golden Fleet shipbuilding push
John Phelan says it is essential that America matches China’s superior production capacity and manufacturing workforce
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The US Secretary of the Navy on Tuesday outlined US President Donald Trump’s Golden Fleet initiative, stating that revitalising the American shipbuilding industry was essential for restoring strategic maritime dominance over China.
Speaking at the Surface Navy Association symposium, Secretary John Phelan emphasised the importance of a strong industrial base, warning that the US Navy is currently unable to compete with Beijing’s production capacity.
“To be a superpower, you need a dominant military force, a robust economy and the ability to make things,” he told the event. “You cannot sustain global maritime power with a hollow industrial base.”
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Describing the current US shipbuilding programmes as “a mess” and “behind schedule and over budget”, Phelan contrasted these “uncomfortable truths” with the manufacturing capabilities of China, Washington’s “most consequential strategic competitor”.
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China’s most advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian, enters service
China’s most advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian, enters service
He presented data that while China has a manufacturing workforce of roughly 100 million, the United States has fewer than 13 million. In 2022, China had around 1,800 ships under construction, yet the United States had five.
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“This is not a future challenge. It is happening now,” he said, urging that Washington must move to a “wartime footing”, drawing parallels to the industrial mobilisation of the second world war.
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