BlueForge Alliance (BFA) is a nonprofit, Department of Defense–supported entity established in 2022 to strengthen and expand the U.S. industrial base for submarine and broader maritime defense production.  It plays a central role in the Submarine Industrial Base (SIB), which supports the construction and sustainment of the U.S. Navy’s Columbia- and Virginia-class submarines.

BFA works to accelerate workforce development, modernize manufacturing capacity, coordinate supply-chain expansion, and improve production readiness for shipyards and suppliers across the country. BFA’s mission is to grow the skilled workforce, supplier network, and technological capabilities needed to meet U.S. national security requirements for submarine production. It addresses shortages in advanced manufacturing talent, materials, and vendor capacity by:

• Supporting training pipelines for trades such as welding, machining, fabrication, electrical work, and systems integration.
• Helping small and medium-sized manufacturers enter or scale within the maritime supply chain.
• Deploying strategic planning, technical assistance, and data tools to forecast and meet production needs.
• Facilitating collaboration among shipyards (e.g., General Dynamics Electric Boat, Newport News Shipbuilding), education partners, workforce systems, and defense agencies.

Similar Entities:

• AUKUS/Defense industrial base partnerships
• Maritime Blue (Washington State) – focused on sustainable maritime innovation
• Various Navy and Department of Defense Manufacturing Innovation Institutes, though BFA is unique in its explicit mandate to support the Submarine Industrial Base.

Resource

https://www.blueforgealliance.us/

See Topic Brief: Workforce Development in the Shipbuilding Industry | Learn & Work Ecosystem Library