Three ships at anchor mark the end of a 20-year era for the United States Navy. LM’s trio of Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ships will leave Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyards to make way for the US Navy’s new Constellation-class frigates. After investing $300 million in Marinette Marine and Bay Shipbuilding, Fincantieri is shifting its focus from the LCS program to building the new frigates.
Three frigates are currently on order but there are also vessels ordered by Saudi Arabia. If the U.S. Navy wants to build more than two frigates a year — officials now say four a year is the ultimate goal — the service will need to submit a second bid for the program. The Navy wants to acquire two frigates in fiscal year 2024. That means Marinette has an average of 1.5 hulls per year in her shipyard beds. Marinette is strengthening her workforce, launching new initiatives in both recruitment and retention.
Constellation frigates
Marinette began construction of the future USS Constellation (FFG-62) in late August 2022. The service and Fincanctieri wanted to ensure that the design – based on the Italian FREMM multi-mission frigate mother design – was mature before the shipyard began he builds the ship.
During this process design changes were required which cost time. These design changes made the ship heavier, requiring more adjustments because the Navy wanted the frigate to have room during its operational life to be able to add new systems. This caused further delays as ways were sought to reduce the extra weight.
Despite the delays, the yard remains on track to deliver the flagship in 2026 as planned. Unlike other US Navy ships – such as the Zumwalts or the Ford-class aircraft carriers – the Constellation frigates do not incorporate many new technologies that could delay their construction.
The boats will have the SPY-6 radar, which is present on the Arleigh Bruke Flight III A/Ts. A slightly inferior version of it will be fitted to the frigates. The diesel engines, the gas turbines, the navigation system – all are already in use right now mainly in the US Navy.
To eventually build two frigates per year, Fincantieri has made several investments specifically for the Constellation line, which can fit 2+ ships inside, but the yard still needs to hire more people. Last April, Marinette had about 900 people working. Now it has about 1,100. Shipyards are constantly looking for workers, also “fishing” in local technological educational institutions.
But even when she hires more people, Marinette can’t build more than two frigates a year, meaning the Navy must also turn to a second shipyard, despite opposition from Congress.
Royal Saudi Navy Multi-Mission Surface Combatant
Four multi-mission vessels based on the Littoral Combat Ship design are under construction at Marinette for the Royal Saudi Navy. The vessels in question are in various stages of construction. Lockheed Martin won the $1.96 billion contract for the four ships, based on a modified design of the Freedom boats, in 2017 under the SNEP II program to strengthen the Saudi navy.
The SNEP II frigates will have 16 Mark 41 vertical launch system cells with Raytheon SM-2 or Raytheon SeaSparrow (ESSM) missiles and Airbus TRS-4D AESA-type radar. The first ship is scheduled to be delivered this year.
Lockheed Martin presented the upgraded Freedom design for the Hellenic Navy’s new frigate program as well but lost out to the French Naval Group. The four Saudi vessels, however, prevent the shipyards from engaging more dynamically with the Constellations.
Meanwhile, the future USS Cleveland (LCS-31) marks the end of the Freedom-class ships, which the Navy has sought to rapidly decommission in recent years because the platform cannot perform in the type of conflict the U.S. envisions against a domestic adversary such as the china. Besides, the Freedom class ships were also plagued by problems with their propulsion system.
