The Forrestal, Seawolf, and the brand-new USS New York are among the new aircraft carriers that the Navy is currently developing. But is this a wise decision? This article investigates the query. We consider the numerous elements that went into the choice and speculate on what the future might bring.
The purchase of Newport News Shipbuilding Inc. by General Dynamics Corporation has been challenged in court by the US Department of Justice. If approved, the merger would establish the United States as the exclusive producer of nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers.
In accordance with the terms of the agreement, General Dynamics would purchase all of Newport News' assets, including its facilities for designing and producing nuclear submarines. Additionally, it would have a say in how commercial oil tankers and Navy support ships were built. Additionally, General Dynamics would stop producing nuclear submarines altogether.
The combination would lessen competition in the design and production of surface combatants, decreasing the chance of conflict between ships propelled by nuclear power and those propelled by conventional power. It might minimize competitiveness in hydrodynamic flow, machinery noise isolation, and propeller design.
However, a larger range of antitrust issues are also presented. For instance, GD has spent the past two years attempting to become the exclusive manufacturer of nuclear submarines. Additionally, Northrop Grumman can be denied access to specific nuclear submarine technologies by General Dynamics.
The USS Forrestal was not only the first super carrier but also the first to fly jet aircraft. The United States accomplished a significant feat with this. But it was just the first of several Forrestal class ships. All subsequent US carriers were built on the foundation of these ships.
There is now a monopoly between the Navy and Newport News Shipbuilding. They are the only businesses able to build nuclear submarines, in other words. The nation won't be able to respond to national emergencies without continuous participation in attack submarine projects, thus this is crucial for the Navy. It is also essential for the future of the two shipyards.
The Navy created a design-build process of building naval ships to assist with this issue. Contractors can significantly lower the amount of design revisions by employing this strategy. Contractors can save time and money by using computer software.
A monopoly in the shipbuilding sector was established by the Navy and Newport News Shipbuilding. Newport News was the last American carrier builder by the early 1960s. The only shipyard with nuclear capabilities was this one. 94% of Newport News's sales in 1996 came from the US Navy sector. The business produced 10 aircraft carriers of the Nimitz class during the Cold War.
A monopoly-monopsony relationship was established when the Navy and Newport News Shipbuilding chose to construct a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. This kind of interaction requires cooperation between the buyer and the seller and differs from the monopoly-multiple-customer market.