Rebuilding U.S. Shipbuilding: Tampa Brass Joins the National Push to Strengthen the Maritime Industrial Base
As the U.S. Navy works to regain its industrial edge, key stakeholders like Secretary of the Navy John Phelan and White House OMB Director Russ Vought recently visited Hanwha Philly Shipyard – signaling a national push to rebuild America’s maritime manufacturing capabilities.
Why the Philly Shipyard Tour Matters
- On July 30, 2025, Phelan and Vought toured Hanwha Philly Shipyard along the Delaware River, one of 58 shipyard visits made by Phelan since late March, as the Navy focuses on accelerating ship delivery and cutting long-standing delays.
- Since acquiring the yard in December 2024 for $100 million, Hanwha has committed to expanding capacity from 1–1.5 commercial vessels per year to 6–10 per year by 2035.
- The yard is now part of a broader strategy to combine commercial and defense shipbuilding, a concept highlighted by Phelan as a critical dual‑use approach to rebuild U.S. industrial strength.
Together, these leaders will help guide policy, improve services, and advocate for thousands of Floridians on the path to employment.
The Bigger Picture: MASGA and the National Industrial Strategy
- The visit came just before a landmark U.S.–South Korea tariff deal tied to a $150 billion “Make America Shipbuilding Great Again” (MASGA) initiative, focused on building shipyard infrastructure, training workers, and sustaining the Navy fleet through joint investment.
- It represents a coordinated policy shift: acknowledging that commercial shipbuilding supports military readiness, and that ship production must scale rapidly to counter adversaries like China, which today builds over half the world’s commercial vessels.
Tampa Brass & Aluminum: Aligning to Serve the Maritime Industrial Base
At Tampa Brass, we’ve moved aggressively to support that vision:
- In April 2025, we secured HII approvals for Visual Testing (VT) and Radiographic Testing (RT) following rigorous audits—now certified to deliver components for Columbia- and Virginia‑class submarine programs under MIL‑STD requirements.
- In May 2025, we received $23.7 million in funding to expand automated manufacturing capabilities, hire dozens of high-tech workers, and strengthen our role in Navy shipbuilding and the Maritime Industrial Base.
We also joined forces with the DoD-supported LIFT manufacturing innovation institute to deploy cutting-edge technologies and train workforce pipelines aligned with defense production needs.
Learn more about how Tampa Brass joined forces with LIFT to advance U.S. manufacturing.
How Cross‑Agency Collaboration Can Accelerate Impact
Building on this momentum, Tampa Brass President Aubrey Greene has proposed amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to integrate:
- The Department of Education to lead workforce development programs (welding, machining, tech trades).
- The Department of Transportation/MARAD to synchronize vessel procurement between commercial and military sectors.
- NAVSEA and Navy small-business offices to open supplier pathways for precision industrial partners.
This tri-agency framework—DoD, DoE, DoT—offers a holistic path to build ships and shipbuilders simultaneously.
Why This Matters Today
- Metric Status & Challenge
- Shipbuilding Delays 58 of 59 Navy programs behind schedule or over budget.
- U.S. Output is Less than 1% of global commercial shipbuilding capacity.
- China Controls ~50% of the global build rate.
- Industrial Base requires urgent expansion and workforce training.
Deploying dual-use infrastructure—yards, workforce, suppliers—across agencies can break these bottlenecks.
Why This Matters Today
If you’re a policymaker, defense leader, or industry partner, consider:
- Embedding the DoE‑DoT‑DoD collaboration in upcoming NDAA legislation.
- Piloting a training-and-supply corridor in strategic maritime hubs—e.g., Tampa Bay or the Mid-Atlantic.
- Working with suppliers like Tampa Brass to deliver compliant, defense-grade components at scale.
Let’s build not just ships – but the workforce, infrastructure, and supplier ecosystem that ensures they sail on time, at scale.
President & CEO, Tampa Brass & Aluminum
Precision manufacturing powering America’s maritime future
Learn more about what’s next: www.tampabrass.com