HII FF(X) Patrol Frigate Program Progressing as Navy Considers Foreign Options

Notional FF(X) frigate design. Navy image VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Both U.S. and foreign designs for the next small-surface combatant are under consideration after the cancellation of the Constellation-class guided-missile frigate, the new head of the Navy’s shipbuilding enterprise said this week.

A foreign design study is running in parallel with the development of HII Ingalls’ FF(X) Flight I patrol frigate, which was announced late last year following the Constellation cancellation, Portfolio Acquisition Executive Rear Adm. Casey Moton told an audience on Thursday at the American Society of Naval Engineers Fleet Maintenance and Modernization Symposium.

Moton confirmed that the HII frigate had passed its critical design review (CDR) earlier this year, which had not been previously announced by the Navy, and was working with HII Ingalls Shipbuilding on the pre-production work. The Navy awarded a $282 million advanced contract for long-lead items in April.

“We just went through CDR on the Flight I, and so we’re doing some pre-production activities with HII to help prepare for that material,” he said.

PAE Maritime is also in the process of the mandated 90-day review of the foreign ship designs, working with “the other stakeholders within the Department of the Navy and [the Pentagon] and [the Office of Management and Budget] and others, talking about the various options, putting those together as part of the response to the presidential study,” Moton said.

The Navy will apply the “Finland Model” to small surface combatant construction in a similar manner as the Coast Guard’s acquisition of the Arctic Security Cutter, according to a White House memo issued in August. Under the model, yards are building Coast Guard hulls in Finland before transitioning construction to the United States with a major investment in U.S. shipbuilding.

Ships under consideration include the Japanese Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ FFM Mogami-class guided-missile frigate and the South Korean Chungnam-class guided-missile frigate and the Istanbul-class guided-missile frigate, USNI News reported earlier this month.

Neither the Navy nor the White House has made it clear if the Navy will pursue two different classes of small surface combatants.

“In terms of which path we go – I’m not going to get ahead of that process – but [studying all options is] essentially what we’re doing,” Moton said. “I am not going to get ahead of what we are doing in response to the presidential memo.”

A senior Navy official told USNI News earlier this month all options for small surface combatants, including building both the Ingalls frigate and a foreign design, were on the table.

Fincantieri image In addition to the foreign ship study and the HII frigate, Constellation shipbuilder Fincantieri Marinette Marine is prepared to build an export variant of the FREMM guided-missile frigate at its Wisconsin shipyards, CEO George Moutafis told USNI News this week.

Moutafis said the supply chain the shipyard built during the Constellation could be applied to Fincantieri’s FREMM EVO design with few modifications to avoid the design churn that led to the cancellation of the Constellation.

“Right now the Navy and the administration could find the right type of dialog with us to set [development] up in a way that enables quick setup and swift construction without letting design spirals get in the way,” he said. “Accept the design that is and works well, and start work on it to get units out there for the fleet.”

The Navy assessment of foreign designs is due to the White House on Nov. 12.