5.1.10.3Vertical

Naval Combatant & Warship Construction

Shipyards building destroyers, frigates, corvettes, and surface combatants for naval customers.

Market snapshot

These figures describe Naval Systems & Shipbuilding (5.1.10), the segment that Naval Combatant & Warship Construction sits within. They are not figures for Naval Combatant & Warship Construction on its own.

Market size
~$30B
Growth
~3.7%CAGR (2017–22, nominal)
Companies
~410 firms
Firms by employee count

49% of firms have fewer than 20 employees: 201 micro-businesses, below most mandates.

The investable universe209 firms with 20+ employees
20–99
11957%
100–499
5325%
500+
3718%

Steady growth funded by a sustained shipbuilding plan, with revenue concentrated in a few yards holding decade-long backlogs. The firm count is misleading on its own: most firms are small boat and repair operations, while the program work sits in a handful of yards that are effectively unacquirable.

NAICS 336611. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

Business model & economics

Revenue model

Naval shipbuilding and sustainment contracts

Key economics

Revenue per firm
$73,470,698
Revenue per employee
$305,213
Employees per firm
239.5
Recurring revenue
High

long-cycle programs and sustainment

EBITDA margin
Program-margin-driven
Capex intensity
High

Characteristics

  • Scale-driven: payroll is only 25% of revenue, so the cost base is assets, not headcount
  • Moderate strategic-buyer pool: 37 firms exceed 500 employees, so a scaled asset has buyers, but not many
  • Consolidated around Huntington Ingalls and General Dynamics.
  • Naval buildup (submarines, surface combatants, AUKUS).
  • Capacity-expansion and workforce challenges.

NAICS 336611. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

Geographic concentration

AlabamaAlaskaArizonaColoradoFloridaGeorgiaIndianaKansasMassachusettsMinnesotaNew JerseyNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOklahomaPennsylvaniaSouth DakotaTexasWyomingMissouriWest VirginiaIllinoisNew MexicoArkansasCaliforniaDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaHawaiiIowaKentuckyMarylandMichiganMontanaNew HampshireNew YorkOhioOregonTennesseeUtahWashingtonWisconsinNebraskaSouth CarolinaIdahoNevadaVermontLouisianaRhode IslandMaineConnecticutMississippiVirginia

Naval shipbuilding concentrates at the major yards in Mississippi (Ingalls), Maine (Bath Iron Works), Virginia (Newport News), and Connecticut (Electric Boat).

MississippiMaineVirginiaConnecticut

U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 County Business Patterns (employment by state), NAICS 336611. Concentration shown by location quotient.

M&A deal context

Deal activityModerate

Who’s acquiring

  • Shipbuilding primes
  • Naval-systems & combat-systems strategics
  • Supply-chain consolidators

What’s driving deals

  • Naval-buildup and submarine-program demand.
  • Sustainment and overhaul work.
  • Supply-chain and capacity investment.

Find Naval Combatant & Warship Construction acquisition targets

Search Acquisera’s index for companies classified under Naval Combatant & Warship Construction (5.1.10.3) and build a targeted deal pipeline.

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