MARITECH - PARTNERSHIPS WITH INDUSTRY IN A TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR COMPETITIVE COMMERCIAL SHIPS AND AFFORDABLE NAVY SHIPS

This paper places in context the Department of Defense (DoD) acquisiti on reform and commercial shipbuilding competitiveness. It discusses th e Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) MARITECH program and the ap plication of technology for the U.S. shipbuilding industry to achieve international commercial competitiveness. For the DoD, a commercially competitive shipbuilding industry will optimize Navy ship acquisition reform and facilitate the department's objective for affordable Navy s hips. The goal of the DoD Acquisition Reform program is to take advant age of the best commercial practices of industry and thereby achieve c ost reductions of the systems it purchases. The government's attempts at acquisition reform as it applies to ship acquisition could fall sho rt, however, if U.S. shipyards are not commercially competitive. Havin g operated exclusively in a protected domestic market, the U.S. shipbu ilding industry has not implemented the best commercial processes nece ssary to compete in the international arena.To help the U.S. shipbuild ing industry achieve internationally competitive commercial status, AR PA has implemented an integrated two-part technology program called MA RITECH. The first part is application of existing technologies to help shipyards enter the international commercial shipbuilding market in t he near term, while the second part seeks advanced technologies to get us ahead as well as keep us ahead of the competition. Technologies wi ll be applied to all aspects of shipbuilding-marketing product develop ment, detail design and planning, construction, guarantee, and follow- on support If MARITECH is successful, there will be an improved U.S. s hipbuilding industry-one that is internationally competitive. By being internationally competitive, the government will be abbe to optimally reap the benefit of Navy ship acquisition reform-affordable Navy ship s.