President Biden signed a memorandum determining the Defense Production Act (DPA) can be used for the submarine industrial base, particularly in support of Virginia-class attack submarines.
The Defense Department said this finding, announced Dec. 21, “will allow the U.S. Navy to maintain its maritime superiority.”
The memo said that “ensuring a robust, resilient, and competitive domestic defense industrial base that has the capability, capacity, and workforce to meet the Virginia-Class submarine undersea warfighting mission is essential to our national security.”
Some of the main DPA authorities are divided into Title I, which allows the president to require businesses to prioritize and accept contract as necessary to promote national defense; and Title III, which allows the president to incentivize the domestic industrial base to expand the production and supply of critical goods.
According to a Defense Department website, the Title III program aims to ensure the timely availability of “essential domestic industrial resources to support national defense and homeland security requirements.”
The memo focused on Section 303 of Title III, which specifically grants the president authorities to create, maintain, protect, expand or restore domestic industrial base capabilities needed for defense.
The presidential determination specifically said large scale fabrication, shipbuilding industrial base expansion for resilience and robustness, and maritime workforce training pipelines supporting the Virginia-class vessel production “are industrial resources, materials, or critical technology items essential to the national defense.”
The memo said that “without Presidential action under section 303 of the Act, United States industry cannot reasonably be expected to provide the capability for the needed industrial resource, material, or critical technology item in a timely manner” and that purchases, purchase commitments or other actions in Section 303 “are the most cost-effective, expedient and practical alternative methods to meet the need.”
The memo also said the administration finds that action to expand the domestic production capability for these supply chains “is necessary to avert an industrial resource or critical technology item shortfall that would severely impair national defense capability.”
According to the Pentagon, the Navy can use the DPA to make investments with the manufacturers and suppliers to execute the submarine shipbuilding plan.
“These activities will strengthen the shipbuilding industrial base and allow its heavy manufacturing and large scale fabrication suppliers to meet growing demand and expand the maritime workforce training pipeline,” the Defense Department said in a statement.
The DPA authorities “expand options and opportunities to accelerate and scale critical investments across key markets,” it continued.
DoD said that once the program, working with industry and other agencies, determines areas where critical industrial capacity is lagging, DoD works with domestic companies to mitigate risks via grants, purchase commitments, loans and loan guarantees.
Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committees Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, welcomed this decision.
“As we look at ways to shore up and expand our submarine industrial base and production capacity, we need every tool in the toolbox to get the job done. President Biden’s new executive action does just that by authorizing Defense Production Act investment in the capacity, capability, and workforce of our attack submarines,” Courtney said in a statement.
“Whether it’s growing our own submarine production rates or supporting our allies through the AUKUS agreement, this action, coupled with the NDAA, is a powerful statement of the high priority of these efforts,” he continued.
Courtney said he would work with the Biden administration, Defense Department, and industrial base to make sure the authority is “put to good use.”