A new generation of cheaper and more flexible vessels could be vital in any conflict with China, but the Navy remains lashed to big shipbuilding programs driven by tradition, political influence and jobs.
This is the military in a nutshell. It ostensibly needs to protect the nation, but civilian industries exist as a result, whose executives have generals in their pockets. If the industry no longer serves the needs of the military, then the military should stop using it; but that doesn't reduce the plight of a worker who would become unemployed as a result. Who suffers from this tension? Every taxpayer who isn't an executive or a general with a cushy retirement job, but especially workers and average servicemembers.