Congress seeks to limit US Navy vessels built in foreign shipyards

The Trump administration’s recent push to buy foreign-built warships is being waylaid by congressional defense committees who are seeking to limit the executive office’s ability to tap overseas construction yards to build out America’s naval fleet.First reported on by the U.S. Naval Institute, the Senate Armed Services Committee’s markup of the Fiscal Year 2027 defense policy bill seeks to strip the presidential waiver authority granted to the commander-in-chief in Title 10 section 8679, which would allow the president to approve offshore ship construction under a vague description of “national security interest.”Under the language of the markup, the defense secretary may arrange to “construct not more than two vessels for each class of covered vessels in a[n] [allied] foreign shipyard.”“Covered vessels” listed within the bill’s language include only bulk fuel vessels and roll-on/roll-off ships.Stipulations for such ships include the defense secretary determining — with evidence — that such a construction “is in the national security interests of the United States.”Within 30 days of a construction deal with an Allied nation, the Pentagon must submit a report that aligns with the congressional stipulations, as well as the identification of the vessels to be built and “a description of the enforceable provisions that will govern the protection of classified information and controlled unclassified information” during the foreign construction process. Additional requirements include “all critical mission systems, command and control equipment, and secure communications systems are installed in the United States or a secure allied facility; the vessels are projected to be constructed and delivered faster than if the vessels were constructed at a shipyard in the United States, or construction at a foreign shipyard otherwise provides a material benefit to readiness or force posture.”The limitations put forth in the draft version of the National Defense Authorization Act we