Report to Congress on Constellation-class Frigate Program (FFG-62)

July 15, 2022 7:19 PM

The following is the July 15, 2022, Congressional Research Service report, Navy Constellation (FFG-62) Class Frigate (Previously FFG[X]) Program: Background and Issues for Congress.

From the report

The Navy began procuring Constellation (FFG-62) class frigates (FFGs) in FY2020, and wants to procure a total of 20 FFG-62s. Congress funded the first FFG-62 in FY2020, the second in FY2021, and the third in FY2022. The Navy’s proposed FY2023 budget requests the procurement of the fourth FFG-62.

The Navy’s FY2023 budget submission estimates the procurement cost of the fourth FFG-62 at $1,091.2 (i.e., about $1.1 billion). The ship has received $6.0 million in prior-year advance procurement (AP) funding. The Navy’s proposed FY2023 budget requests the remaining $1,085.2 million needed to complete the ship’s estimated procurement cost. The Navy’s proposed FY2023 budget also requests $74.9 million in AP funding for FFG-62s to be procured in future fiscal years.

Four industry teams competed for the FFG-62 program. On April 30, 2020, the Navy announced that it had awarded the FFG-62 contract to the team led by Fincantieri/Marinette Marine (F/MM) of Marinette, WI. F/MM was awarded a fixed-price incentive (firm target) contract for Detail Design and Construction (DD&C) for up to 10 ships in the program—the lead ship plus nine option ships. The other three industry teams reportedly competing for the program were led by Austal USA of Mobile, AL; General Dynamics/Bath Iron Works (GD/BIW) of Bath, ME; and Huntington Ingalls Industries/Ingalls Shipbuilding (HII/Ingalls) of Pascagoula, MS.

As part of its action on the Navy’s FY2020-FY2022 budgets, Congress has passed provisions relating to U.S. content requirements for certain components of each FFG-62 class ship, as well as a provision requiring the Navy to conduct a land-based test program for the FFG-62’s engineering plant (i.e., its propulsion plant and associated machinery).

The FFG-62 program presents several potential oversight issues for Congress, including the following:

  • the Navy’s emerging force-level goal for frigates and other small surface combatants;

  • the reduction in the FFG-62 program’s programmed procurement rate under the Navy’s FY2023 five-year (FY2023-FY2027) shipbuilding plan;

  • the accuracy of the Navy’s estimated unit procurement cost for FFG-62s, particularly when compared to the known unit procurement costs of other recent U.S. surface combatants;

  • whether to build FFG-62s at a single shipyard at any one time (the Navy’s baseline plan), or at two shipyards;

  • whether the Navy has appropriately defined the required capabilities and growth margin for FFG-62s;

  • whether to take any further legislative action regarding U.S. content requirements for the FFG-62 program;

  • technical risk in the FFG-62 program; and

  • the potential industrial-base impacts of the FFG-62 program for shipyards and supplier firms in the context of other Navy and Coast Guard shipbuilding programs.

Keep Building Small Combatants To Create Force Structure And Capability

The U.S. Navy needs more ships. And that means the Navy has to build more ships than it is decommissioning.

By Edward Lundquist

Maritime Magazine

The sea service has a stated a goal of 355 ships, and as many as 500 and more when unmanned platforms are counted.

There are 298 ships in the fleet today. For surface ships, this number includes a high-low mix of highly capable large surface combatants, and smaller ships such as littoral combat ships LCS).

The Navy’s smallest combatants are the 330-ton, 197-foot coastal patrol boats (PCs). Up until recently, ten of them have been serving in the Middle East with the U.S. Fifth Fleet performing maritime security, interdiction and escort duties. The Navy is in the process of decommissioning the PCs. The last five,based in Bahrain,are slated to leave the fleet soon. The U.S. Coast Guard’s Patrol Forces Southwest Asia also supports the Fifth Fleet with patrol vessels. Of the Coast Guard’s six 110-patrol boats (WPBs)based in Bahrain, five have now been removed from service, with one scheduled d to decommission soon. Theyare in the process of being replaced by six 154-foot Fast Response Cutters (FRCs). The PCs, WPBs and FRCs essentially perform the same mission. There are currently four FRCs in Bahrain, with two more to follow soon. Numerically, when the last PCs and WPBs are decommissioned and all six FRCs have arrived, the number of patrol assets will decrease from 16 to six.

The FRCs are being built in Lockport, La. The program of record is for 64 cutters, with 16 yet to be delivered. Although nominally the FRCs are replacements for the 110-foot WPBs, they have much better seakeeping abilities, and have shown they can conduct extended patrols.

The production lines for both the Freedom and Independence variants of LCS are drawing to a close. The last Freedom, USS Cleveland (LCS 31) is under construction at Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM) in Wisconsin, while the final Independence LCS,USS Pierre(LCS 38) is being built at Austal USA in Mobile, Ala.

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter USCGC Glen Harris (WPC 1144) transits the Suez Canal, Feb. 6. Harris is one of the U.S. Coast Guard’s newest Sentinel-class fast response cutters slated for forward-deployment to Bahrain where U.S. 5th Fleet is headquartered. The ship will help ensure maritime security and stability across the Middle East region.

FMM is also building four multi-mission surface combatants for the Royal Saudi Navy, based on LCS. But as those move through the production line FMM is gearing up to produce the Constellation class of guided missile frigates (FFGs). The first FFG is scheduled to be delivered in 2026 and achieve initial operational capability (IOC) in 2029. However, every U.S. Navy shipbuilding program has experienced delays in the delivery and IOC of the first in class.

The frigate is based on a proven design—the French-Italian European multi-purpose frigate or FREMM. However, the U.S. design is wider, and has different systems, which adds technical risk, so some of the advantages of a proven design might be mitigated.

Austal is building the expeditionary fast transport (EPF) on a parallel production line to the LCS, which is also coming to the end of its program. Twelve are complete; three are under construction, and one more is on order.The Expeditionary Medical Ship (EMS), a variant of the EPF is also being built on the same production line. One EMS has been appropriated two more have authorized in House Armed Services Committee’s FY23 National Defense Authorization Act, although a contract has not been issued for EMS yet.

There is language in HASC’s FY23 NDAA that requires the Navy to produce a report on the ability to install a vertical launch system on the EPF platform, as a way to distribute lethality on more platforms.

Both the Austal LCS and EPF ships are all-aluminum, although Austal is building a steel production capability to build two towing, diving and rescue tugs (T-ATS) and a floating drydock for the Navy, and presumably other ships it may compete to build. The steel line was opened in April, and the yard will officially start cutting steel for the T-ATS program on 11 July.

The Navy can’t afford to modernize its aging Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers, and is modifying its large Zumwalt class of guided missile destroyers to be a platform for hypersonic strike missiles. The Zumwalt class was originally planned for 32 ships. Only three were built. None have deployed. A new large surface combatant (LSC), now called DDGX, is still an idea on the drawing boards. It will be the replacement for the Ticonderoga class, but its years away from reality. It’s doubtful that any of those cruisers will last long enough to hand off the baton.

Although the Navy planned to shut down production of the Arleigh Burke destroyers, which began with DDG 51, commissioned in 1991,the service saw the wisdom of reopening the line at Bath Iron Works in Maine, and Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss. Today those yards are building the Flight III variant of Arleigh Burke DDGs, which will help ease the gap between the CG 47s and DDGX.

An AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire missile launches from the Surface-To-Surface Missile Module (SSMM) aboard Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship USS Montgomery (LCS 8). The missile exercise was the first proof of concept launch of the Longbow Hellfire missile against land-based target. LCS is a fast, agile, mission-focused platform designed to operate in near-shore environments, winning against 21st-century coastal threats. LCS is capable of supporting forward presence, maritime security, sea control, and deterrence.

USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112), commissioned in 2012, was to be the last Arleigh Burke built. In 2009, with the decision to stop production of the DDG 1000s at three ships, the Navy ordered more DDG 51 Flight IIA ships, essentially restarting the production line. DDG-113 to DDG-115 were mostly similar to previous Flight IIAs, but DDGs 116-121 had some of the new technology that would be found on the Flight IIIs. The first Flight III, USS Jack Lucas (DDG 125), has been launched and should commission in 2023. Another 14 Flight IIIs have been approved.

A total of 35 littoral combat ships are planned, including 16 Freedom-class ships and 19 Independence-class ships. The Freedom has a monohull design, while the Independence is a trimaran. LCS was designed to manned with a very small crew—30 people--which in practice proved to be too small. The original program was for 52 ships, but was reduced because of cost overruns, delays, and issues with lethality, survivability and issues with the crew size. Despite their relatively young age, the Navy is even planning to remove some of the Freedom class LCS because of propulsion problems.

LCS was supposed to be a simple ship that would have its combat capability installed in reconfigurable modularized mission packages. That has proven to be harder than anticipated. The mine countermeasures mission package is not yet fully certified, and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday recently cancelled the ASW mission package because it doesn’t work. The only ships that have deployed have carried some form of the surface warfare mission package, which originally was just a few 11-meter RHIBs, although they did carry an aviation detachment. TheLCS lethality is being enhanced with Hellfire Long Bow Missiles and the Naval Strike Missile (NSM), which gives the ship a potent anti-ship capability.

Speaking at the WEST 2022 conference, co-hosted by AFCEA and the U.S. Naval Institute, Gilday said “…we need a naval force of over 500 ships.”

In that number, Gilday mentioned possibly 30 or more smaller amphibious ships to support the new Marine Littoral Regiments, and “…probably looking into the future about 150 unmanned.”

The “smaller amphibious ships” refers to a new class of light amphibious warship (LAWS) to support distributed maritime operations (DMO) and smaller Marine combat units. Presumably, these LAWS would have volume and the ability to load and unload vehicles and equipment, and shallow draft to get close to the beach. If the mission packages are removed from the LCS mission bay, there is ample room. And the EPF is basically a car ferry. It has a stern ramp to facilitate moving vehicles on and off the ship. So LCS and EPF can help deliver that light amphibious lift.

The Military Sealift Command expeditionary fast transport (EPF) has demonstrated an ability to launch and recover mine countermeasure systems (MCM) as a vessel of opportunity. Here, a Knifefish unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) training model undergoes crane operations aboard the USNS Spearhead (T-EPF 1). Knifefish is a medium-class mine countermeasure UUV designed for deployment off the littoral combat ship.

Unmanned flotillas

In looking at force structure, the Navy is dedicated to bringing unmanned systems into the fleet in large numbers. The first ORCA large displacement underwater vehicle (LDUUV) has been delivered, which can serve as a platform to covertly insert other underwater vehicles.

And in the Middle East, the U.S. Fifth Fleet is envisioning a large fleet of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) to create persistent maritime domain awareness.

According to Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) and U.S. Fifth Fleet, unmanned systems and artificial intelligence are helping to “put more eyes out on the water by fielding unmanned systems.”

Last year Fifth Fleet establish Task Force 59 as an unmanned systems and artificial intelligence task force. “We are on a path to build the world’s first international unmanned surface vessel fleet. We have two different types of platforms. One of them provides a persistent ISR capability, and the other has a high-speed sprint capability. In the case of the persistent ISR, we have several unmanned vessels underway in regional waters that have been out there for 140 days, which is incredible. The goal is to work with our partners and grow the USV capability by the summer of 2023 to a point where we have 100 USVs operating around the theater. Our partners see the opportunity here and they are very committed to moving forward,” Cooper said.

One can imagine the need for ships with sufficient volume and handling capacity to help position, launch and recover these unmanned systems where needed.

The LCS concept had always relied on using speed to deliver offboard mission systems and withdraw to a safer area and let the systems do their job. That capability would be idea in serving as a tender for large numbers of offboard and unmanned vehicles or other remote sensors. And with the surface mission package, the ship makes a formidable light combatant that can contribute to force structure and presence.Both ships fill an important mission and, now that the bugs are worked out, are capable combatants.

It makes sense to deliver addition FRCs to either the Coast Guard to operate in support of its national defense mission, or to the Navy to operate in Fifth Fleet.

Furthermore, continuing to produce the Independence class LCS and the EPF would enable the delivery and support of what will become a very large network of unmanned systems and offboard sensors.

These ships are proven. Making such a decision now, while the production lines are hot, will deliver more proven capability to the fleet sooner.

The Expeditionary Fast Transport has a large vehicle deck and stern ramp to carry heavy vehicles. Here, a U.S. Army Soldier directs an M88A2 Hercules Recovery Vehicle down the stern ramp of the Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Carson City (T-EPF 7) in Constanta, Romania.

Fairbanks Morse is Exclusive Naval Field Service Provider for IDEAL

PUBLISHED JUN 23, 2022 10:16 AM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE 

[By:  Fairbanks Morse Defense]

Fairbanks Morse Defense (FMD), a portfolio company of Arcline Investment Management (Arcline), has finalized an agreement with The Ideal Electric Company (IDEAL), an American manufacturer of high-power, specialty electric motors, generators, and related equipment, to serve as IDEAL’s exclusive naval field service provider. FMD will provide maintenance and global field services for The Ideal Electric Company’s motors and generators that are already installed or will be installed on naval ships worldwide.

“Fairbanks Morse Defense is constantly seeking new opportunities to expand the range of turnkey services that we can offer our marine defense customers and teaming up with The Ideal Electric Company to service their motors and generators while we’re already on board servicing our engines and other equipment makes this a great value add for the Navy,” said Jamie McMullin, President of FMD Services.

The agreement reinforces FMD’s ability to build, maintain, and service naval power and propulsion systems worldwide through six strategically located domestic centers and resources deployed globally.

“Fairbanks Morse Defense’s extensive field service network and focus on supporting naval customers coupled with The Ideal Electric Company’s legacy of rotating electric expertise and American-made product range is a perfect match for us. We are excited to leverage this in-place capability and provide unparalleled support to our customers when and where they need it,” said Nic Phillips, Vice President of IDEAL. “We see this as a great fit with two American manufacturers coming together, strengthening the domestic defense industrial base, and we feel confident that our customers will be well-served by FMD.”

For more than 100 years, FMD has provided products and services to the Navy. Today, the defense contractor powers more than 80% of the Navy’s ships with medium-speed applications. Similarly, Ideal Electric, a 119-year-old company, has installed generators that are connected to FMD’s backup power engines on many Navy ship classes.

In recent years, FMD has expanded its array of best-in-class marine technologies, OEM parts, and turnkey services through expansion and the acquisitions of companies that include Federal Equipment Company (FEC), Hunt Valve, Maxim Watermakers, Research Tool & Die (RT&D), Ward Leonard, and Welin Lambie.

HASC Adopts Amendment for $37B Boost to Defense Topline, Restores 5 Littoral Combat Ships

By: Mallory Shelbourne

June 22, 2022 5:46 PM

USNI.org

The Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Sioux City (LCS 11), front, transits the Tyrrhenian Sea alongside the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) on May 16, 2022. US Navy Photo

The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday approved an amendment that would authorize a $37 billion increase to the annual policy bill’s topline and save five Littoral Combat Ships from decommissioning.

The amendment, proposed by Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Elaine Luria (D-Va.), would authorize $1.2 billion for the Navy to buy another Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and allow the service to use incremental funding for the purchase. It would also authorize $923.8 million for another Constellation-class frigate, $746 million for another T-AO-205 John Lewis-class oiler and $695 million for two Expeditionary Medical Ships. These ships would be in addition to the eight battleforce ships the panel’s mark already authorizes to meet the Navy’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget request.

The HASC’s markup of the FY 2023 policy bill is ongoing as of this posting.

Golden’s and Luria’s amendment also authorizes $660 million for eight F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, despite Navy efforts to end the Boeing fighter line. It authorizes $400 million for the Navy to buy two more E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes, $446.2 million for three Navy C-130s, $252.9 for two more Marine Corps KC-130Js, $250 million for two more Marine Corps CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopters and $212 million for two V-22 Ospreys.

The amendment also authorizes $318 million in funding to save five of the nine Littoral Combat Ships the Navy sought to decommission in its FY 2023 proposal and another $59 million to save two Expeditionary Transfer Docks. The HASC chairman’s mark notably did not stop the Navy from retiring any of the LCSs.

The potential decommissioning of the Littoral Combat Ships has been a prominent discussion topic throughout debate of the FY 2023 defense spending and policy bills. The Navy’s budget proposal sought to decommission a total of 24 ships in FY 2023, including nine Freedom-class LCSs.

Luria’s and Goldman’s amendment follows the same moves by the Senate Armed Services Committee and the House Appropriations defense subcommittee. SASC in its mark of the defense policy bill saved five of the nine LCSs up for decommissioning, as did HAC-D in its mark of the annual defense spending bill.

But some lawmakers opposed saving the LCSs from early decommissioning. During Wednesday’s markup of the HASC chairman’s mark of the FY 2023 policy bill, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) displayed a chart labeling the LCSs as “Leaking Cracked Ships,” as she spoke in opposition to keeping the ships in the fleet.

“We all know what lemon cars are. We have a fleet of lemon LCS ships. We have spent billions of dollars on this fleet when they have no capability to help us deal with [what] our largest threat is, which is that of China and Russia. The only winners have been the contractors on which the Navy relies for sustaining these ships,” Speier said.

Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Milwaukee (LCS-5) departs Naval Station Guantanamo, Jan. 3, 2022. US Navy Photo

“The Freedom-class has been plagued by reliability issues from the start, with numerous power and engine failures, including 10 out of the 11 deployments that the [Government Accountability Office] examined. They’ve got problems with the gears that are faulty. I mean, it goes on and on,” she added.

Listing off problems various Freedom-class hulls have faced, Speier called the ships “a sunk cost” and argued the Navy should not spend millions to keep them in the fleet because they are prone to breaking down.

The Freedom-class ships have faced two significant problems: a class-wide issue with the combining gear that marries the gas turbines to its diesel engines and an inability to field the anti-submarine warfare package for the LCS Mission Module. The Navy earlier this year said it would scrap the ASW package for the LCS due to issues fielding Raytheon’s AN/SQS-62 variable depth sonar (VDS) on the Freedom hull.

HASC Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) similarly spoke in opposition to Golden’s and Luria’s amendment, but praised the package for going after inflation and modernization. The chairman reiterated his argument that the quality of platforms matters more than the quantity of platforms.

“However one feels about the LCS, there have been some arguments that have been made that I just find deeply troubling. One is, ‘well we already bought them, so why would we decommission them?’ Good money after bad is about as cliché as it gets. But it is really important at this point … we have to pay to operate these things,” Smith said.

“And they consistently break down and they consistently have incredibly high maintenance costs,” he added. “So we’re paying money and we’re not getting much in the way of capability. We can save that money, spend it on other things that actually are capable.”

Prior to the amendment’s passage, Smith said he planned to introduce an amendment about the five LCSs on the House floor so the entire chamber could debate the topic.

The Navy’s effort to decommission the LCSs has been fraught, with some lawmakers criticizing plans to retire relatively young ships that have not reached the end of their service lives.

Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), the ranking member of the HASC seapower and projection forces subcommittee, told USNI News in an interview this week that while he does not support getting rid of a large number of the LCSs because the class has faced some problems, he thinks the Navy should evaluate potential Foreign Military Sales and how partners or allies could use the ships.

“I do think that those ships have utility both for our Navy and our service branches, but also in ways that could really build United States strategic relationships with other nations,” Wittman said.

Should the U.S. transfer or sell the ships to other countries, Wittman argued there should be a military-to-military relationship between the U.S. and those nations so the U.S. Navy could train those sailors to both use the ships and exercise with them.

“I want to make sure too that we exhaust every possibility for us in our military,” he said.

Wittman pointed to the potential for the U.S. Marine Corps to use the LCS to move Marines around and for the U.S. Coast Guard to use them to perform counter-drug operations in U.S. Southern Command. He said the Coast Guard likely wants more National Security Cutters and the LCS could fulfill that mission set.

“This would be a great opportunity for the Coast Guard to be able to take a ship that has the capability I think that they would need – can move quickly, has the ability to deploy an 11-meter [rigid-hull inflatable boat]. Those are things that fit right within the Coast Guard mission,” Wittman said.

“And the same for the Marines. I mean, the ability to move Marines back and forth – to do tactical support – this ship has some ability to do tactical support for Marines ashore. I think all those things are missions that would fit easily with LCS without any major modifications to it,” he continued. “So I think we need to exhaust all of those possibilities as we go down this road, and then if all of those are exhausted, then we can talk about [Foreign Military Sales]. But FMS does have to be part of the conversation.”

During May testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday floated the potential to transfer the LCSs to other countries.

The House Appropriations defense subcommittee in its draft of the FY 2023 spending bill called for a report analyzing other uses for the LCSs and specifically said the Navy could decommission four of the hulls that it could then assess for transfers to other countries.

Meanwhile, the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday marked up and passed its defense spending bill, which met the Biden administration’s request and allotted $762 billion in defense spending.

USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) pier-side at Naval Station San Diego, Calif., on Feb. 15, 2022

Rep. John Rutherford (R-Fla.), a member of HAC whose district includes Naval Station Mayport – where the Freedom-class LCSs are based, – proposed and then withdrew an amendment that would have saved all nine LCSs from decommissioning.

“It is complete financial malpractice, Madam chair, to scrap any of these ships that have barely begun their service life. They’ve barely begun,” he said.

“The average years of service is less than four years, four years. That’s less than one quarter of their expected 25-year lifecycle. Taxpayers have already spent $4.5 billion on building out the LCS class. It is just wasteful to throw away these decades of investment,” Rutherford added.

Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), who chairs the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, said Wednesday that she has spoken with the Navy about its proposal for the LCSs.

“The first round of discussions I had with the Navy were very unsatisfactory. And they’re coming around to see the seriousness of us making sure that the taxpayers dollars that have been invested are at a minimum repurposed in a way that helps with our national security,” she said during the markup.

While House appropriators followed the Biden administration’s request, Senate authorizers last week authorized a $45 billion increase to the defense topline.

“I think this $37 billion is a start. I applaud the Senate for their addition of $45 billion,” Luria said Wednesday during the HASC markup.
“I know we have slightly different priorities and throughout this process I hope we will end up with an agreement somewhere north of this $37 [billion]. But I think adding this to the budget at least for me makes this NDAA acceptable in its overall topline.”

HASC on Wednesday also approved a separate amendment proposed by Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) to authorize $45 million in research and development funding for the low-yield Sea-Launched Cruise Missile. The Biden administration sought to cancel the program in the FY 2023 budget proposal, but Congressional authorizers have sought to approve research and development funding for the program. SASC similarly authorized research and development funding for SLCM in its draft of the policy bill.

Fincantieri Marinette Marine Awarded Contract for Third Frigate

Image courtesy of Fincantieri Marinette

PUBLISHED JUN 20, 2022 4:19 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

[By: Fincantieri Marinette]

The U.S. Navy announced today that Fincantieri Marinette Marine is on contract to build a third Constellation-class Frigate, the future USS Chesapeake. 

This announcement follows last month’s successful critical design review of the first-in-class FFG-62, which is nearing the start of construction.  The value of this contract option is approximately $536 million.

“We are pleased with the award, and our focus remains on working with the Navy to build the best frigate in the world,” said Fincantieri Marine Group President and CEO Dario Deste.    

Fincantieri Marinette Marine received the initial frigate contract in April 2020 for the lead ship and nine additional options. Last year the Navy exercised the first option, giving FMM the opportunity to build the second ship, FFG-63, the future USS Congress. The initial FFG contract was valued at $5.5 billion, if all options are exercised.  

Fincantieri is nearly complete with its $300 million construction and renovation project aimed at enabling construction of two frigates each year.  Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers was in Marinette last month for the dedication of one of the newest buildings in the shipyard, the massive ‘Building 34’, where two 500-ft. ships can be erected and finished side-by-side in a climate-controlled environment.

FMM was also recognized recently by the Shipbuilders Council of America for its efforts to build ships safely. FMM garnered both the “Excellence in Safety” and “Improvement in Safety” awards, while another Fincantieri shipyard, Bay Shipbuilding, also received accolades from SCA for continued improvement on an already impressive safety record. 

All of the Fincantieri shipyards in Wisconsin are hiring, and the company unveiled a new paid apprenticeship program last week.  

The products and services herein described in this press release are not endorsed by The Maritime Executive.

UPDATED: Navy Awards $537M Option for Third Constellation Frigate Chesapeake

By: Sam LaGrone

June 16, 2022 6:32 PM • Updated: June 17, 2022 9:43 PM

A Fincantieri Marinette Marine model of the proposed USS Constellation (FFG-62). USNI News Photo

This post has been updated to correct the budgeted cost of the first in class frigate and with an additional statement from Naval Sea Systems Command.

The Navy has awarded a $537 million contract option to shipbuilder Fincantieri Marinette Marine for the third Constellation-class frigate, according to a Thursday Pentagon announcement.

The contract modification for the detail design and construction of Chesapeake (FFG-64) follows Constellation (FFG-62), awarded in 2020, and Congress (FFG-63), awarded in 2021.

Combined with government-furnished equipment, the first ship’s total cost will be about $1.3 billion, according to Navy budget documents.

Marinette’s Wisconsin shipyard will build the 7,300-ton frigate, which is based on Fincantieri’s FREMM multi-mission design used by the French and Italian navies.

The award comes as ship designers Gibbs & Cox have finalized the approved design for the class that allows the shipyard to start fabrication of the first ship.

“USS Chesapeake is the third ship in the class and has been awarded to shipbuilder Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM) after a successful completion of the class Critical Design Review milestone,” reads a statement from Naval Sea Systems Command.
“The program also recently successfully completed the Critical Design Review milestone in May, and is proceeding to Production Readiness Review and start of production for the lead ship, USS Constellation.”

The frigate is set to be the Navy’s key anti-submarine warfare platform and a crucial node in the service’s emerging Distributed Maritime Operations concept, officials have told USNI News.

While the new Connies are based on an existing frigate design, the plans have gone through an extensive revision to accommodate new capabilities and meet the Navy’s survivability standards, service officials have told USNI News. That design work took longer than initially anticipated.

Earlier this year, the long-delayed Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations bill placed a pause on the Navy seeking a second shipyard to construct more Constellation-class frigates.

“While the [frigate] is based on a proven hull design and mature shipboard technologies, it remains a new class and the Navy and the shipbuilding industrial base have had past production challenges in managing costs, technical concurrency, design changes and schedule of lead ships of a class,” reads language from the FY 2022 appropriations law. “There is concern that prematurely adding a second [frigate] shipyard before the first shipyard has identified and corrected technical and production issues will inject unneeded risk and complexity into the program.”

The service was expected to buy two frigates a year starting in FY 2023, but alternate between one and two awards a year for a total of buying three every two years. 

Over the next five years, the service anticipates buying seven of the FFGs for a total of ten if the Navy exercises all of the contract options, according to its FY 2023 budget submission.

In the latest budget submission, the service asked for one Connie for $1.2 billion.

Fincantieri Shipyards Earn ‘Green Marine’ Certifications

PUBLISHED JUN 15, 2022 8:17 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

[By: Fincantieri]

Two of Fincantieri’s U.S. shipyards officially received their “Green Marine” certifications at the GreenTech conference in Montreal last week.

World-class shipbuilder Fincantieri Marinette Marine and state-of-the-art aluminum construction facility, Fincantieri ACE Marine, were the first two shipyards in Wisconsin to join the largest voluntary environmental certification program. And now both are certified to assess their environmental performance against industry standards nationwide.

“We view this certification as the next step on a path to being a leader in sustainability in the U.S. shipbuilding industry,” said Dario Deste, president and CEO of Fincantieri Marine Group. “We are interested in sharing best practices we have learned from our parent company [Fincantieri], as well as collaborating with other Green Marine members in the area of sustainability and environmental stewardship.”

Both Fincantieri shipyards had to demonstrate environmental performance based on Green Marine’s applicable indicators, which include greenhouse gases, air pollutants, spill prevention, waste management, community impacts, and environmental leadership before they could achieve certification. The certification process is rigorous and transparent, and each shipyard’s performance will be independently verified every two years.

The products and services herein described in this press release are not endorsed by The Maritime Executive.

Report to Congress on U.S. Navy Ship Names

June 15, 2022 9:00 AM

The following is the June 13, 2022, Congressional Research Service report, Navy Ship Names: Background for Congress.

Names for Navy ships traditionally have been chosen and announced by the Secretary of the Navy, under the direction of the President and in accordance with rules prescribed by Congress. Rules for giving certain types of names to certain types of Navy ships have evolved over time. There have been exceptions to the Navy’s ship-naming rules, particularly for the purpose of naming a ship for a person when the rule for that type of ship would have called for it to be named for something else. Some observers have perceived a breakdown in, or corruption of, the rules for naming Navy ships. Section 370 of the FY2021 NDAA (H.R. 6395/P.L. 116-283 of January 1, 2021) established a commission regarding the removal and renaming of certain assets of the Department of Defense (including ships) that commemorate the Confederate States of America or any person who served voluntarily with the Confederate States of America.

For ship types now being procured for the Navy, or recently procured for the Navy, naming rules can be summarized as follows:

  • The first and second SSBN-826 class ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) have been named District of Columbia and Wisconsin. The Navy has not stated the naming rule for this class of ships.

  • Until recently, Virginia (SSN-774) class attack submarines have generally been named for states, but the four most recently named Virginia-class boats have instead been named in honor of earlier U.S. Navy attack submarines.

  • Of the Navy’s 15 most recently named aircraft carriers, 10 have been named for past U.S. Presidents and 2 for Members of Congress.

  • Destroyers are being named for deceased members of the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, including Secretaries of the Navy.

  • The first three FFG-62 class frigates have been named Constellation, Congress, and Chesapeake, in honor of three of the first six U.S. Navy ships authorized by Congress in 1794. The Navy has not stated the naming rule for this class of ships.

  • Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs) were named for regionally important U.S. cities and communities.

  • Amphibious assault ships are being named for important battles in which U.S. Marines played a prominent part and for famous earlier U.S. Navy ships that were not named for battles.

  • San Antonio (LPD-17) class amphibious ships are being named for major U.S. cities and communities and cities and communities attacked on September 11, 2001.

  • John Lewis (TAO-205) class oilers are being named for people who fought for civil rights and human rights.

  • Expeditionary Fast Transports (EPFs) are being named for small U.S. cities.

  • Expeditionary Transport Docks (ESDs) and Expeditionary Sea Bases (ESBs) are being named for famous names or places of historical significance to U.S. Marines.

  • Navajo (TATS-6) class towing, salvage, and rescue ships are being named for prominent Native Americans or Native American tribes.

House Appropriators Want Navy to Save 5 Littoral Combat Ships From Decommissioning

By: Mallory Shelbourne

June 14, 2022 6:21 PM • Updated: June 17, 2022 5:55 PM

USNI.org

The nine in-commission Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ships the Navy is proposing to decommission as part of the FY 2023 budget. US Navy Photos

House defense appropriators want the Navy to keep five Littoral Combat Ships but will allow the service to decommission four, according to text of the Fiscal Year 2023 defense spending bill.
The legislation, released today by the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, would complicate the Navy’s plans to decommission nine Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ships next year.

The bill “directs a report on alternate uses of these vessels, such as missions in the [U.S. Southern Command] and [U.S. Africa Command] areas of responsibility; and permits the decommissioning of four ships, which would also allow the Navy and the Defense Security Cooperation Agency to explore the possibility of transferring them to partner nations,” according to a summary from the subcommittee.

Seeking to defend the Navy’s push to decommission the LCSs, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday last month proposed to lawmakers that the service evaluate transferring the ships to countries in South America.

The effort to retire the Freedom variant ships follows two major issues that have affected the class: a problem with the combining gear that marries the gas turbines to the diesel engines and the Navy’s struggle to field the anti-submarine warfare package for the LCS Mission Module on the Freedom hull. Earlier this year the Navy said it would axe the ASW mission for the LCS.

House defense appropriators met the Biden administration’s request, allotting $762 billion in defense spending.

The lower chamber’s bill would allot $27.8 billion for the Navy to buy the eight ships it asked for in the FY 2023 request, including two Virginia-class attack submarines, two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, one Constellation-class frigate, one San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, one T-AO-205 John Lewis-class oiler and one T-ATS 6 Navajo-class towing, salvage and rescue ships.

The House Appropriations defense subommittee’s summary of the legislation noted the panel did not include any research and development funding for the low-yield Sea-Launched Cruise Missile, a program that has become controversial in the last year. Some Republican lawmakers have voiced support for the program, known as SLCM, as have Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Christopher Grady and U.S. Strategic Command chief Adm. Chas Richard. But House Democrats, including House Armed Services Committee chairman Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), have voiced opposition to the program’s development.

As for aircraft procurement, the appropriators allotted funding for the Navy to buy the five MQ-9A Reapers the Marine Corps sought and 12 CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopters. The Navy asked for 10 CH-53Ks for the Marine Corps in its budget submission. It also appropriates money for five E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes, meeting the Navy’s request.

It’s unclear where HASC will come down on the LCS decommissionings. The HASC seapower and projection forces subcommittee punted the issue to the chairman’s mark, which the committee will release next week. But some HASC lawmakers have criticized the Navy’s proposal, noting the LCSs have years of service life left.

The Navy’s FY 2023 budget request sought to decommission a total of 24 ships, including the 9 LCSs, but met swift criticism in Congress.

The HASC seapower and projection forces subcommittee’s mark of the defense policy bill would mandate the Navy keep four Whidbey Island-class dock landing ships – USS Germantown (LSD-42), USS Gunston Hall (LSD-44), USS Tortuga (LSD-46) and USS Ashland (LSD-48) – and Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Vicksburg (CG-69), which is nearing the end of a modernization overhaul. All five ships were on the Navy’s FY 2023 decommission list.

Fincantieri Breaks Ground on Shipyard Improvements in Jacksonville

PUBLISHED JUN 9, 2022 3:22 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

[By: Fincantieri]

Shipyard workers, community and elected leaders joined together along the St. Johns River to ceremonially break ground at Fincantieri Marine  Repair’s Commodores Point location. 
Fincantieri is investing more than $30 million into improving the marine infrastructure including preparatory work to accommodate a 500-ft. dry dock that will give the shipyard the capability to perform extensive maintenance work on larger military, government and commercial vessels as early as next year. 

“Before we opened our facility in January of this year, we were planning extensive renovations primarily to allow for a large, Navy-certified dry dock which enables us to do more in-depth repair work on naval and large commercial vessels, and today we are one step closer to seeing this become a reality,” said Ryan Smith, CEO of FMR. “We  continue to work with local and state officials every step of the way, and the community  has been understandably excited about our pledge to add hundreds of new jobs.” 

U.S. Rep. John Rutherford attended the ceremony and offered congratulations to the entire team. "We are so proud to have you here, and we look forward to working with  you to make your vision become a reality." 

Smith unveiled illustrations of the future shipyard and many guests remarked about the needed improvements along the river, which is about a mile from downtown  Jacksonville, close to TIAA Bank Field, home of the NFL Jacksonville Jaguars. 

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