# RAND Flags South Korea Shipbuilding Barriers

RAND says large-scale construction of U.S. Navy combat ships at South Korean or other overseas shipyards faces substantial congressional and operational constraints, including restrictions associated with the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act. For contractors, the more viable near-term areas for U.S.-South Korea maritime cooperation are auxiliary and strategic transport vessels, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), supply chains, workforce development, and component or block production. The signal identifies no specific solicitation, award, contract value, or procurement contact.

- Companies evaluating overseas combat-ship production should account for the identified congressional and operational constraints before committing resources to that market.
- Contractors may find nearer-term positioning in auxiliary and strategic transport vessels, MRO, supply-chain support, workforce development, and component or block production; these are potential cooperation areas, not announced procurements.
- The absence of a named solicitation or award means firms should treat this as market and policy intelligence rather than an active bid opportunity.

**Jurisdictions:** international
**Industries:** Defense & Military, Transportation
**Topics:** Policy
**Published:** October 03, 2026

### Government Entities
- U.S. Navy (USN)
- U.S. Congress (Congress)

### Sources
- [RAND Warns Political Barriers to U.S. Combat Ship Production in Korea ](https://www.chosun.com/english/world-en/2026/10/03/6CPJS5RKK5EC7E4RPBAVJ6W2CQ) - 조선일보