The Lion in Winter: Government, Industry, and US Naval Shipbuilding Challenges

DID reader Lee Wahler points us to Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter’s recent address to the annual meeting of the Navy League [PDF format], which focused on the problem of naval shipbuilding costs. DID has covered this issue before, but Winters’ speech went beyond that in some interesting ways. Some key excerpts from the speech follow – and the opening sets the tone: “After three months in the job as Secretary, I have some observations regarding the relationship between the Navy and industry that I would like to focus on over the next few minutes. There are some positive conclusions – but, at the same time, there are warning signs that the relationship between the Department of the Navy and industry, a relationship that won hot and cold wars, is beginning to fray under the tensions of the fiscal and security environments of today and tomorrow.” I thought this next bit was his most compelling statement… The Defense Industry Cost/Death Spiral and the Navy U.S. Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter: “We are also looking to industry to make necessary adjustments in their operations to reflect changes in the long-term needs of the Navy. A responsive defense industry infrastructure […]