Actually on aviation we often still assemble aircraft locally and quite often secure regional maintenance certification. We do supply a lot of components, usually complex, difficult and expensive to manufacture components, even contributing to the design of such. A lot of this capability exists as a result of deliberate efforts to retain the high tech, high value add work as the industry wound down after the Hornet program.
Aircraft are also very different to ships, they are usually built on production lines in their hundreds, if not thousands and aircraft within a batch are pretty much identical to one another, they can usually be broken down and easily transported to different locations for final assembly. No two ships, submarines even more so, of the same batch or flight are identical. While they can be built in blocks or sections these are still individually massive, literally bigger than a house and they are completely fabricated, no poured slabs or precast walls, just welded deck and bulkheads. They are measured with great precision because a block fabricated in Melbourne, Newcastle or Spain still needs to match it mating part close enough to be craned into place and welded. Every pipe joint and valve needs to be tested and passed, every cable join and termination needs to be tested and certified safe, all welds are inspected visually while a Lloyds certified weld inspection plan dictates which welds are critical and must be x-rayed.
The AWDs are the size of WWII light cruisers, they are the largest and most complex warships ever built in Australia and they are being built in a virgin yard, by a mostly new workforce after a significant shipbuilding blackhole. Anyone attempting this would encounter problems and actually the Tech Director for the first several years of the build, actually a senior BIW engineer who had been on the actual DDG-51 lead ship design and build, confirmed this. Things go wrong, the unexpected happens, sometimes the expected doesn't, you learn, you get better and you do better, then after a few ships you start building them better and quicker than you ever thought possible. Sensible little changes are introduced, some lead to efficiencies in the build some also lead to efficiency and improvements in operation of the ship.
All of this is dependent on a continuous, sustainable build, if you do it only once, or so infrequently you are effectively doing it only once, over and over again, you will never be able to apply the knowledge and experience you gained doing it the first time.
Aircraft are also very different to ships, they are usually built on production lines in their hundreds, if not thousands and aircraft within a batch are pretty much identical to one another, they can usually be broken down and easily transported to different locations for final assembly. No two ships, submarines even more so, of the same batch or flight are identical. While they can be built in blocks or sections these are still individually massive, literally bigger than a house and they are completely fabricated, no poured slabs or precast walls, just welded deck and bulkheads. They are measured with great precision because a block fabricated in Melbourne, Newcastle or Spain still needs to match it mating part close enough to be craned into place and welded. Every pipe joint and valve needs to be tested and passed, every cable join and termination needs to be tested and certified safe, all welds are inspected visually while a Lloyds certified weld inspection plan dictates which welds are critical and must be x-rayed.
The AWDs are the size of WWII light cruisers, they are the largest and most complex warships ever built in Australia and they are being built in a virgin yard, by a mostly new workforce after a significant shipbuilding blackhole. Anyone attempting this would encounter problems and actually the Tech Director for the first several years of the build, actually a senior BIW engineer who had been on the actual DDG-51 lead ship design and build, confirmed this. Things go wrong, the unexpected happens, sometimes the expected doesn't, you learn, you get better and you do better, then after a few ships you start building them better and quicker than you ever thought possible. Sensible little changes are introduced, some lead to efficiencies in the build some also lead to efficiency and improvements in operation of the ship.
All of this is dependent on a continuous, sustainable build, if you do it only once, or so infrequently you are effectively doing it only once, over and over again, you will never be able to apply the knowledge and experience you gained doing it the first time.