The United States is currently facing serious headaches when it comes to building and repairing ships. Decades of deindustrialization have led to issues in the industrial supply chain, as well as gaps in supporting talent and skilled workers. As a result, not only is shipbuilding progressing slowly, but even ship repairs are astonishingly sluggish. For example, at Bath Iron Works—the shipyard responsible for building Arleigh Burke-class destroyers—a Burke III-class destroyer that began construction in May 2023 has yet to be launched even two years later. To major shipbuilding nations like China, Japan, and South Korea, this is simply unbelievable. In contrast, over the past decade or so, the Chinese Navy has commissioned more than 20 Type 052D destroyers and 8 of the 10,000-ton Type 055 destroyers, and has progressed from having no aircraft carriers to operating supercarriers—truly worthy of being a shipbuilding powerhouse that accounts for 60% of the world’s total shipbuilding output.