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
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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Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate USS Thach (FFG-43) in 2011. US Navy Photo
The Navy won’t reactivate any Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates in support of operations in U.S. Southern Command, according to an internal service memo obtained by USNI News. Read More
Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigate USS Rodney M. Davis (FFG-60) in 2014. US Navy Photo
The Navy has not made a final determination if it will reactivate decommissioned Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates in its push to expand to a 355 ship fleet despite an internal report that said reactivating the ships could cost in the billions. Read More
USS Rentz (FFG-46) in 2009. US Navy Photo
THE PENTAGON — If recommissioned, seven retired Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates would serve as basic surface platforms, stay close to U.S. shores, assist drug interdiction efforts or patrol the Arctic without an extensive upgrade to its combat systems, the Secretary of the Navy said on Wednesday.
Sailors assigned to the Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate USS Elrod (FFG-55) pose for a photo in front of the ship before her decommissioning ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk in 2015. US Navy Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. – While all options are on the table in the Navy’s push to field a 355-ship fleet, when it comes to reactivating ships in the inactive fleet, the service is realistically only looking at seven decommissioned Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates (FFG-7), Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson told USNI News on Thursday. Read More
USS Kauffman (FFG 59) decommissioning ceremony in 2015. US Navy Photo
Studies are underway to “take a hard look” at putting eight mothballed Oliver Hazard Perry frigates back into service as well as extending the life of existing Arleigh Burke guided-missile destroyers to help the Navy reach its goal of a 355-ship fleet, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said on Tuesday. Read More
Chinese frigate Weifang leaves the Black Sea on May 14, 2015. Photo by Yörük Işık
On Thursday, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) frigates Linyi and Weifang left the Black Sea along with a Russian Navy guided missile corvette to begin the first ever round of Chinese and Russian naval exercises in the Mediterranean. Read More
Chinese frigate 547 Linyi passing through Bosphorus on May 4, 2015. Photo by Nurderen Özbek via Bosphorus Naval News
Two People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) guided missile frigates entered the Black Sea on Monday in a first for the PLAN, according to photos of the ships crossing the Bosporus Strait obtained by USNI News. Read More
USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) in the Java Sea on Jan. 7, 2014. US Navy Photo
CRYSTAL CITY, VA. – The modified Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) class will be designated as frigates, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced on Thursday at the Surface Navy Association 2015 symposium on Thursday. Read More
