트럼프의 ‘미국 우선주의’가 쏘아 올린 안보 지각변동: 나토의 쇠락과 조선업의 딜레마 > 뉴스

The Trump administration's reduction of NATO forces is an unprecedented measure that will shake the foundation of European security. The United States reduced the number of F-16 and F-15E fighters to one-third of the original level and recalled a large number of aircraft carriers, submarines, and aerial refueling tankers, which are core naval forces, foreshadowing a large vacuum in Europe's defense posture. The U.S. European Command protests that these changes are an inevitable choice to resolve unhealthy interdependence, but fears are spreading in Europe that they may be isolated in the face of Russian threats. In particular, political circles in major countries such as Germany are even criticizing themselves, saying that the trust that the United States will protect Europe at a critical moment has disappeared. This proves that Europe is being pushed into a desperate situation where it must strengthen its own defense capabilities.

Behind the force reduction lies a clear strategic calculation: redeployment of military assets to the Indo-Pacific region. The United States is strategically shifting available resources tied up in Europe to respond to instability in the Middle East, including the conflict with Iran, and competition for hegemony in Asia. The strong response shown by the U.S. military in the recent tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz clearly demonstrates the U.S.' multipurpose strategy to simultaneously prepare for conflicts on a global scale. However, this strategic move has raised concerns among experts that it will weaken Europe's deterrent against Russia and hinder NATO's joint operational capabilities. In the end, as the United States scaled back its role as the world's police force and chose to choose and focus, its allies faced the harsh reality of having to find their own ways to survive.

In addition to changes in security policy, a strong industrial policy is emerging within the United States that prioritizes protecting the country's shipbuilding industry. The Trump administration has been pursuing the ‘MASGA’ project, which utilizes the shipbuilding capabilities of allies such as Korea and Japan to strengthen the navy, but the US Congress put the brakes on this by passing a bill blocking it. The fact that the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee included a clause ‘prohibiting foreign shipyards from building ships’ in the National Defense Authorization Bill shows that the political interests of protecting domestic jobs ahead of the midterm elections in November are overwhelming security cooperation. This hard-line attitude of Congress not only disrupted the Department of Defense's plan to stabilize the supply chain for U.S. ships, but also posed a challenge of uncertainty to the Korean defense industry, which was hoping to cooperate with the global shipbuilding market.

Korean defense companies are seeking unique strategies for survival and leap forward amid this huge wave. To overcome the limitation of lack of special ship construction capabilities, domestic shipbuilders, including Samsung Heavy Industries, are using indirect market penetration strategies, such as participating in the conceptual design of military support ships in cooperation with local shipyards in the United States or entering the MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) market. This is a desperate measure to overcome strong protectionist barriers such as the Jones Act in the United States, and at the same time a strategic approach to attack supply chain instability in the U.S. shipbuilding industry. As evidenced by our past history of laying the foundation for national defense by raising funds together at the time of the introduction of the Baekdu-san ship, our shipbuilding industry is making a head-on breakthrough by building a solid reference in the global market based on its technological superiority in the rapidly changing international situation.