The following is the Feb. 11, 2020 Congressional Research Service report, Navy Constellation (FFG-62) Class Frigate (Previously FFG[X]) Program: Background and Issues for Congress. Read More
Tag Archives: FFG(X)
Navy: Constellation Frigate, DDG(X) Programs Mark Start of ‘Surface Ship Renaissance’
Rendering of USS Constellation (FFG-62). Fincantieri Image
The Navy already has models of the Constellation-class frigate and the upcoming DDG(X) destroyer in the water at Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock in Maryland and is using a new set of engineering best practices to guide the development of both programs, several Navy officials explained last week. Read More
Navy: First Constellation Frigate Will Start Fabrication This Year as Shipyard Expands
Rendering of USS Constellation (FFG-62). Fincantieri Image
The first hull in a new Navy ship class in more than a decade is set to start construction later this year, the service’s program manager said this week. Read More
Top Stories 2020: U.S. Navy Acquisition
Attack boat Vermont (SSN-792) float-off on March 29, 2019. General Dynamics Electric Boats Photo
This post is part of a series of stories looking back at the top naval news from 2020.
2020 may be among the most consequential years for Navy acquisition in recent memory, with the service making big moves in support of its Distributed Maritime Operations operating concept. Read More
After 9 Months of Study, Pentagon’s Fleet Architecture Similar to Original Navy Plan
Defense Secretary Mark Esper tours the avenger class minesweeper USS Devastator, docked at Naval Support Activity Bahrain on Oct. 28, 2020. DoD Photo
At the beginning of the year, the Navy and Marine Corps sent a new fleet plan to Pentagon leaders that called for relying on smaller ships and unmanned vessels to meet future missions and defeat future adversaries. The Pentagon rejected the plan.
Nine-months later, Pentagon leaders reached the same conclusion: the Navy needed to be more distributed and weighted towards small combatants and unmanned craft.
What did that additional effort really get the sea services? Not much, according to some officials involved in both processes.
Report to Congress on Constellation-class Frigate Program (FFG-62)
The following is the Oct. 28, 2020 Congressional Research Service report, Navy Constellation (FFG-62) Class Frigate (Previously FFG[X]) Program: Background and Issues for Congress Read More
SECNAV Braithwaite Calls for Light Carrier, ‘Joint Strike Frigate’ ; Sounds Alarm Over Chinese Naval Expansion
Secretary of the Navy Kenneth Braithwaite speaks with U.S. sailors and Marines while visiting HMS Queen Elizabeth at sea off the coast of Flamborough, United Kingdom on Oct. 1, 2020. UK Royal Navy Photo
Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite made a full-throated call for U.S. naval expansion, citing the growing Chinese Navy as the prime driver of the need for a larger fleet. Read More
CBO Says Navy Underestimated Cost of First Frigate by 40 Percent
Italian FREMM, the basis for the FFG-62 program. Fincantieri Marine Group Image
This story was updated to include a statement from a spokesman for Navy acquisition chief James Geurts.
The lead ship in the Navy’s next-generation frigate class could cost $1.6 billion, a figure that is 40 percent above the service’s projections for the first-in-class vessel, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
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CBO Report on Cost of the Navy’s FFG(X) Program
The following is the Oct. 13, 2020 Congressional Budget Office report, The Cost of the Navy’s New Frigate. Read More
SECNAV Braithwaite Names First FFG(X) USS Constellation
USS Constellation (FFG-62). Fincantieri Image
BALTIMORE, Md. – The Navy will name the first of its new class of frigates USS Constellation (FFG-62), in a nod to one of the original six frigates the Navy bought just after the Revolutionary War. Read More
