Shipbuilders could see billions of dollars from defense spending bill

Submarines, destroyers, carriers on build list as part of National Defense Authorization Act

Hanwha Philly Shipyard, Philadelphia. (Photo: FreightWaves/Stuart Chirls)

As much as $26 billion could flow to domestic shipyards for new construction and advanced procurement as part of the National Defense Authorization Act legislation awaiting a vote in the Senate.

Analysis by the Congressional Budget Office pegs the proposed FY 2027 NDAA authorizing roughly $26 billion for shipbuilding to:

  • Build or support:
    • The third Columbia‑class ballistic‑missile submarine
    • One Virginia‑class attack submarine
  • Provide advanced procurement for:
    • Future submarines
    • Future DDG‑51 Arleigh Burke‑class destroyers
  • Fully fund the Ford‑class aircraft carrier program
  • Fund:
    • One anti‑submarine warfare auxiliary ship
    • Two ship‑to‑shore connector landing craft

Those builders include General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, HII Newport News, HII Ingalls, Fincantieri Marinette, and Hanwha Philly Shipyard.

The package’s total spending is $900.6 billion.

The FY 2026 NDAA authorized $26 billion in shipbuilding funds for similar programs, so the current proposal keeps shipbuilding at roughly that same level.

Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

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Stuart Chirls

Stuart Chirls is a journalist who has covered the full breadth of railroads, intermodal, container shipping, ports, supply chain and logistics for Railway Age, the Journal of Commerce and IANA. He has also staffed at S&P, McGraw-Hill, United Business Media, Advance Media, Tribune Co., The New York Times Co., and worked in supply chain with BASF, the world's largest chemical producer. Reach him at stuartchirls@firecrown.com.