The Pentagon is considering outsourcing warship design and building to South Korea and Japan with a proposed US$1.85 billion feasibility study into the project, according to US media reports.

The study – included in the 2027 budget – will look at the feasibility of adopting or co-producing advanced hulls such as Japan’s Mogami-class and South Korea’s Daegu-class frigates to supplement the US Navy’s overstretched production lines, USNI News reported on Friday.

If the plan goes ahead it will be the first time the US has bought a major surface combatant from a foreign partner since World War II.

It comes as the Donald Trump administration is frustrated by chronic delays, labour shortages and cost overruns within America’s industrial base.

The initiative also aims to bridge a widening shipbuilding capacity gap with China, which is currently producing six to 10 destroyers per year – four to six times the rate of the United States.

Japan’s Mogami-class has a 5,500-tonne stealth hull with a high degree of automation. South Korea’s Daegu-class is smaller at 3,600 tonnes and has a silent propulsion system. Both are equipped with US-standard systems, such as the MK-41 vertical launching system.