Rendering of USS Constellation (FFG-62). Fincantieri Image
The Navy on Thursday issued Fincantieri Marinette Marine a $554 million contract to start building the next frigate in the Constellation class, the service announced. Read More
The following are a pair of November memos from Navy acquisition chief James Geurts and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday to the U.S. shipbuilders. Read More
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.
USS Stockdale (DDG-106) transits the Gulf of Oman on Jan. 5, 2019. US Navy Photo
The Navy’s latest effort to define its next large surface combatant is underway, with the director of surface warfare (OPNAV N96) saying the top-level requirements for the ship class are due to the chief of naval operations by the end of the year. Read More
The following is the June 26, 2020 Congressional Research Service report, Navy Frigate (FFG[X]) Program: Background and Issues for Congress. Read More
The following is the June 8, 2020 Congressional Research Service report, Navy Frigate (FFG[X]) Program: Background and Issues for Congress.
The FFG(X) program is a Navy program to build a class of 20 guided-missile frigates (FFGs). Congress funded the procurement of the first FFG(X) in FY2020 at a cost of $1,281.2 million (i.e., about $1.3 billion). The Navy’s proposed FY2021 budget requests $1,053.1 million (i.e., about $1.1 billion) for the procurement of the second FFG(X). The Navy estimates that subsequent ships in the class will cost roughly $940 million each in then-year dollars. Read More
Fincantieri FFG(X) Design based on the FREMM. Fincantieri Image
This post has been updated to include comments from industry.
No protests have been filed over the Navy’s decision to award Fincantieri a detail design and construction contract for the FFG(X) program, clearing the way for work to begin, the Navy confirmed to USNI News.
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An artist’s concept of the HII Patrol Frigate.
This post was updated with a statement from Huntington Ingalls Industries.
Huntington Ingalls Industries executives are still smarting a week after the Navy awarded a potentially multi-billion-dollar frigate contract to rival shipbuilder Fincantieri.
The following is the May 4, 2020 Congressional Research Service report, Navy Frigate (FFG[X]) Program: Background and Issues for Congress. Read More
Fincantieri FFG(X) Design based on the FREMM. Fincantieri Image
This post has been updated to include additional information from the Navy.
The Navy awarded a $795-million contract to Fincantieri to begin building a new class of guided-missile frigates, in the first new major shipbuilding program the service has started in more than a decade, the Navy announced today. Read More
