Issues Related to Suppliers of Nonnuclear Components

In addition to the shipyard itself, the industrial base for aircraft carrier construction includes a large complex of firms providing the thousands of individual carrier components that the shipyard does not fabricate itself. These components range from such standard items as fasteners, to somewhat specialized items such as pipes and valves, to such highly specialized items as catapults and arresting gear. They include those bought by and supplied directly to the shipyard (contractor-furnished equipment [CFE]) and those bought and supplied to the shipyard by the government (government-furnished equipment [GFE]). In this chapter, we focus on CFE suppliers.1