A group of lawmakers from the Democratic and Republican parties have proposed the Shipbuilding and Port Infrastructure for Prosperity and Security (SHIPS) Act for America, according to the military news site The War Zone.
The bill promises to revive the US military and civilian maritime industry, which has lagged behind many developed countries in the world. According to a spokesman for Senator Kelly, the bill is expected to be approved with a budget of $ 18.1 billion over 10 years and the funding will come from various tax sources.
This is the most significant maritime reform in 50 years, said Sal Mercogliano, a former Marine Corps Marine Corps (MSC) officer and associate professor of history at Campbell University. The last time the United States made a serious investment in the maritime industry was in 1970, when the Merchant Marine Act was enacted.
The bill would promote a strategy of combining civilian and military shipbuilding, allowing businesses to ask the Navy or Coast Guard to apply their technology in the design, repair or construction of ships.
Consulting firm McKinsey and Co. pointed out that this would help develop production quickly, taking advantage of highly skilled external human resources in the context of the US Navy's increasingly "aging" fleet while the demand for the number of ships is increasing.
The bill also includes improvements to shipyard infrastructure, defense shipbuilding industry facilities, and port infrastructure. In addition, small shipbuilders will be provided with $100 million per year (from 2025 to 2034) and a loan fund will be established to support the re-registration of ships or conversion from civilian to military vessels.
In particular, the bill calls for developing a strategy for the Navy’s “rearmament at sea” capability, a critical capability in modern warfare that would allow the Navy to maintain sustained combat capability without having to rely on offshore repair facilities.
According to The War Zone, factories that can support the maintenance of America's main military ships are mostly old and limited in number, causing serious delays in maintenance and significantly reducing the combat power of the navy.
As such, SHIPS also offers a range of financial incentives, including a 25% tax break on any investment in military and civilian shipbuilding to expand the US industrial base.
