Navy warship production hits 25-year low, falls behind China: report

Navy shipbuilding has had its worst production in 25 years, putting the U.S. behind rival China in production pace.

"I don’t see a fast, easy way to get out of this problem. It’s taken us a long time to get into it," Eric Labs, a longtime naval analyst at the Congressional Budget Office, told ABC News, adding that the Navy’s shipbuilding was now in "a terrible state.

The comments come as last-minute design changes, cost overruns, and an inability to recruit and retain employees to build ships has slowed production at the same time the U.S. faces expanding global threats at sea.

CHINESE SHIPBUILDING CAPACITY OVER 200 TIMES GREATER THAN US, NAVY INTELLIGENCE SAYS

The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) leaves its San Diego home port Jan. 17, 2020. (U.S. Navy via Getty Images)

The ABC News report cites a Marinette Marine contract as just one of the many examples of the struggles of the Navy to meet production. According to the report, the shipmaker is under contract to build six guided-missile frigates with an option to build four more, but with its current workforce can only produce one ship per year.

Issues such as the one faced by Marinette Marine have been widespread throughout the country, with shipyards turning to creative solutions such as offering training academies or partnering with technical colleges to get more workers the skills they need to build the Navy’s high-tech vessels.

Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro has touted such programs, the report notes, even speaking during the commencement for recent graduates at a community college that partnered with Portsmouth Naval Shipyard to teach students to repair nuclear submarines.

"It is incumbent upon all of us to consider how we can best lend our talents and, in the case of the graduates, their newly developed skills, to build up our great nation for all Americans, and defend against the threats and challenges of today," he said at the ceremony.

A Sea Hunter, a crewless vessel, arrives at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to participate in the Rim of Pacific (RIMPAC), on June 29, 2022. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aiko Bongolan, via AP)

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Part of the $100 million in Navy funding provided to Marinette Marine is being used for retention bonuses, underscoring the importance of retaining a shipbuilding workforce.

The report also notes that much of the blame is with the Navy itself, which frequently changes the design requirements of ships after companies have begun construction. Yet despite vows to learn from those mistakes, the Navy redesigned 85% of the ships being built by Marinette Marine, resulting in cost increases and delays.

The report comes after a  U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) slide leaked online showed last year that the rapidly expanding Chinese Navy has the capacity to produce ships at 200 times the rate of the United States.

"The Chinese see this decade as a strategic opportunity," Brent Sadler, senior research fellow for naval warfare and advanced technology in the Center for National Defense at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital at the time. "I don't see any near-term bending of the curve where we actually start closing the gap with the Chinese."

The USS Rafael Peralta, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the US Navy, arrives on July 10, 2021, in Sydney, Australia. (James D. Morgan/Getty Images)

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But the Navy said it is taking the problem seriously, with a spokesperson for Del Toro telling ABC News that the service is looking for more "creative solutions" to the problem.

"The Navy’s role in defending our nation and promoting peace has never been more expansive or mattered more," said Lt. Kyle Hanton. "We continue to work with our industry partners to identify creative solutions to solving our common challenges."

The Navy did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.