GAO recommends Navy increase responsibility of Supervisors of Shipbuilding

A new report from the Government Accountability Office recommends the Navy's Supervisors of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair are included earlier in the shipbuilding process before contracts are awarded.

In a Senate report accompanying the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress included a provision for GAO to review the SUPSHIPs’ oversight efforts.

GAO's report, released today, outlined challenges the Navy has faced in meeting its shipbuilding goals, noting years of construction delays in certain programs, billions of dollars in cost growth and frequent performance shortfalls.

SUPSHIP is the Navy’s on-site technical authority for the construction of Navy vessels at major private shipyards. However, the Navy isn’t taking “full advantage” of the Supervisors’ expertise, GAO said.

The watchdog agency recommends the Navy, “take steps to ensure regular use of its quality program standard in shipbuilding contracts; provide the SUPSHIPs with direct representation in evaluation and decision-making processes prior to contract awards; and require the SUPSHIPs to report on the quality and readiness of each ship prior to the Chief of Naval Operations’ approval decisions for ship acceptance.”

The Navy agreed with all of GAO’s recommendations.