There are early signs Navy shipyards may be a focus for job growth. Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments who has been in talks with the Trump transition team, told Inside Defensehe anticipates increased production at existing shipyards and new construction at shipyards not presently working on U.S. military ships.
He estimated that significantly boosting naval manufacturing could add 15,000 to 20,000 new jobs, including those generated in ancillary businesses.
Clark also said aircraft manufacturers could be another area to target growth, contending that current facilities are “generally operating at minimum sustaining rates or below.”
He cautioned, though, that these job increases wouldn't be possible without repeal or reform of the 2011 Budget Control Act.
"The only way the DOD can pay for more ships and aircraft is by relaxing the BCA budget caps," he wrote. "Unless the caps are relaxed, the military will have to get smaller just to cover increases in compensation and the increasing maintenance cost for each ship and aircraft."
Even if the caps were removed, the Trump administration could face a tough sell. Congress and previous administrations have typically frowned upon any suggestion that defense spending could serve as a "jobs program."