Comment by Animats
4 months ago
It's a generic problem with flat demand in heavy industry. Shipbuilding, bridges, nuclear reactors - when the production backlog runs down and the factory goes idle, the factory dies. So do the companies that feed specialized parts into the process.
Governments keep making contracts with megacorp prime contractors, who stiff their suppliers at the first opportunity, instead of the SMEs that are essential to reliable long term capability. It's the bean counter obsession with counting delivered parts as the only basis for payment.
Agreed, it takes decades to build manufacturing expertise.. lose demand for a few years and all is lost
Throwing more money at it does not work either, you need skilled workforse
Same is happening in EU with shipbuilding