The following is the executive summary to Naval Sea Systems Command’s (NAVSEA) shipyard optimization plan, which lays out a 20-year, $21-billion plan to improve the four public shipyards. The full report will not be released to the public, and the redacted summary was released on Sept. 12.
Executive Summary
The Navy’s four public shipyards – Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, and Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility – are essential elements of our national defense. The shipyards are government owned and operated to support an effective and timely response for mobilization, national defense contingency situations, and other emergency requirements. Their primary mission is to provide depot level maintenance to ensure the Navy’s nuclear aircraft carriers and submarines are available to meet the nation’s needs. The naval shipyards have taken significant steps to better train and improve workforce performance over the past five years and are on an improving trend as witnessed by the on-time delivery of all four aircraft carrier (CVN) availabilities and reduced lost days on submarine availabilities in 2017.
However, the current condition, configuration, and location of supporting facilities, dry docks, and equipment limits the improvements that can be made. Future growth in both the CVN and SSN force to obtain the Navy the Nation needs further exacerbate these challenges. This report compliments a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report (17-548, September 2017), reference [1], that found aging facilities, dry docks, and equipment affect the shipyards’ ability to meet the Navy’s mission requirements.
This report provides the engineering analysis and strategy for the optimal placement of facilities and major equipment at each public shipyard, including a 20 year investment plan for infrastructure investments needed to improve shipyard performance into the 21st century to ensure we are providing the Shipyards the Nation needs. The plan focuses on three major areas for each of the Navy’s four public shipyards:
• Dry Dock recapitalization
• Facility layout and optimization
• Capital equipment modernization
