Del Toro’s goal to revitalize US shipping industry to fortify fleet

sister agencies.” Loren Thompson, a defense industry consultant and analyst with the Lexington Institute, also wants to see the nitty gritty. “He calls for investment in upgrades to the yards and subsidies for commercial shipbuilders building military ships, but hasn’t outlined how costly these measures might be,” Thompson wrote in an email to Defense News. The secretary replied that this would be a prime focus of the shipbuilding council and future budget rollouts.Del Toro was clear about one thing: The service would hold industry accountable to deliver quality ships on time, at a reasonable cost, noting that Congress is becoming increasingly reticent about throwing money at troubled systems. The related task forces, boards and committees are needed to effectively evaluate contractor bids and make decisions in a reasonable amount of time, he argued. “We have allowed the process to encumber us to the point where we are operating with specifications built on the knowledge of yesterday’s technology, driving costs up and creativity and speed down,” Del Toro said. While the department has reduced solicitation times for some ship contracts by a third, cut the average time from bid to award by 120 days, and given the industry expanded flexibility in its proposals, this hasn’t translated into cost savings. Analyses show the service isn’t accepting many winning offers due to unrealistic requirements, and it often faces lengthy litigation over contract disputes. Del Toro even received — and granted — exceptions to the Pentagon procurement process, but still got sued, he said. Analyses show the service isn’t accepting many winning offers due to unrealistic requirements, and it often faces lengthy litigation over contract disputes. Del Toro even received — and granted — exceptions to the Pentagon procurement process, but still got sued, he said.