Interview, Fireside Chat
Dino Mavrookas: America Needs to Build Ships Again
- A hypersonic missile launch from the autonomous "Marauder" vessel is expected prior to a U.S. Navy test off a manned vessel.
- In a potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait involving World War III, China is projected to outproduce the global rest in shipbuilding capabilities by undercutting prices and subsidizing labor and materials, taking capacity from allies like South Korea and Japan.
- The U.S. naval fleet is expected to shrink from its current size of roughly 290 ships, moving away from the 2018 statutory minimum of 355 ships, despite the Department of War projecting a requirement for 381 manned ships.
- U.S. shipbuilding infrastructure is anticipated to be insufficient to support the 381-ship requirement, with the Navy projected to spend $1.2 trillion over 30 years to execute the current plan to reach that number.
- Aircraft carrier costs are predicted to rise further from a quoted $13 billion to $19 billion, while the Department of War's $1.5 trillion budget request currently allocates only 26.1% to autonomy.
- The company plans to scale incrementally from "Corsair" to "Marauder" to "Port Alpha" using private capital investment to drive down costs, increase speed, and save taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars.
- A large, multi-hundred million dollar contract with the Navy is expected to be announced in December 2025, with the customer anticipated to prioritize rapid acquisition through the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU).
- The speaker predicts the Department of War will call for companies to invest their own capital to achieve speed and scale in defense acquisition.
- The commercial shipbuilding industry is viewed as critical for national security to ensure supply chains can resupply forces, with the maritime industry expected to shift toward autonomy over the next 10 years to simplify design and enable scalable production.
- The company expects the maritime industry, beyond just defense, to center around autonomy, potentially leading to 5 to 10 significant companies scaling in the sector over the next five to ten years.
- The "Port Alpha" project in Brownsville, Texas, is expected to create 10,000 jobs and generate a $160 billion economic impact over the next 10 years.
- A test of a containerized hypersonic missile from the "Marauder" in partnership with Castellan is planned, with government involvement anticipated to lag eight steps behind the private team.
- The company expects to grow its workforce to 1,800 people within four years by hiring top talent while prioritizing mission success.