Rebuilding the Fleet

We did something different this week. No guests and no scripts… Just me and Tim sitting down to take stock of what we’ve learned across Season 1 about what is happening in American shipbuilding right now. When we started this podcast six months ago, I don’t think either of us fully appreciated the moment we were entering. As Tim put it: “My entire shipbuilding career, nobody even knew what shipbui...

About the Company California Forever is an ambitious venture founded nearly 10 years ago to build a new city in Solano County, California just east of San Francisco. The company has quietly assembled almost 70,000 acres (100+ square miles) through 700 separate land transactions over 8 years, and has raised over $1 billion in funding. The project consists of three main pillars: the Solano Foundry (...

About the Company Hanwha Defense USA is the American arm of South Korea’s Hanwha Group, one of the world’s largest defense and industrial conglomerates. In the U.S., Hanwha operates the Philly Shipyard—the only major commercial shipyard on the East Coast—alongside munitions production facilities and a growing portfolio spanning solar power, optics, and advanced manufacturing. The company has pledg...

About Heather Heather Carroll is the Chief Revenue Officer at Path Robotics. Before joining Path, she spent 20+ years in AI, automation, and robotics for supply chain and logistics (warehouses). She was recruited to Path to help scale the business and saw an immediate connection: her husband owns a manufacturing facility in Nashville that struggled with the exact welding challenges Path solves. Ab...

About the Guest Captain (ret.) Colin Corridan, USN (Ret.) served 26 years in the United States Navy as a surface warfare officer. A Massachusetts native and graduate of Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Colin commanded both variants of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS)—one of only a few officers to do so. He served as Deputy Commander of Task Force 59 in Bahrain, where he led groundbreaking efforts int...

About the Shipbuilders Council of America The Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) represents 45 shipyard companies operating approximately 90 facilities nationwide, serving as the voice of America’s commercial shipbuilding industry. Founded to advocate for U.S. shipbuilding capabilities, SCA members span from commercial shipyards to major players in government shipbuilding (excluding nuclear-foc...

About the Guest Rick Spaulding brings nearly 40 years of experience in the American shipbuilding industry, having worked on some of the Navy’s most complex and critical platforms. Throughout his distinguished career, he has been directly involved in the design and construction of aircraft carriers, submarines, amphibious assault ships (LPDs, LHAs), destroyers (DDG-51s), and Coast Guard cutters. Be...

Background This week, we’re coming to you from Bristol, Rhode Island where Austin and Tim are visiting the production facility of Vatn Systems. Vatn, led by CEO and co-founder Nelson Mills, is scaling the manufacturing of autonomous underwater vehicles (UUVs) to support America’s undersea warfare capabilities. From being homeschool on a boat in the Caribbean to building 2,000 UUVs per year, Nelson...

About the Company Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) stands as America’s largest military shipbuilder, operating three major divisions that form the backbone of U.S. naval power. Newport News Shipbuilding handles all aircraft carrier construction and refueling operations, while partnering with General Dynamics Electric Boat on submarine programs. The Ingalls division in Mississippi serves as the...

About the Company Regent is revolutionizing transportation with electric sea gliders - flying boats that operate in ground effect over water. The company serves dual markets: defense and commercial. On the defense side, they’re developing high-speed maritime solutions for Indo-Pacific operations with 180 mph speeds and 1,600-mile range using hybrid propulsion. Commercially, they’ve secured $10 bil...

I know what you’re thinking. You woke up this morning and said, “man, I need another podcast.” Well good news, reader. We got you. The truth is, we’re at a critical moment for American sea power. There is a renaissance happening. People are building. People are rebuilding. People are upgrading. We’re rethinking how we buy ships and submarines and all sorts of technology on the water. There’s inter...