Cost concerns are growing about the building of the US Navy's guided-missile frigate, shown here in a rendering. (US Navy)
With the US Navy (USN) guided-missile frigate (FFG) shipbuilding programme running up to three years behind schedule, US lawmakers and defence analysts are starting to question whether the ships' acquisition costs could be more than budgeted.
Even though the initial ship work is being done under firm-fixed contracting, some of the higher costs could still wind up being borne later by the USN, according to a recent report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).
The USN began procuring Constellation-class (FFG 62) frigates in fiscal year (FY) 2020, with a total of six being procured through FY 2024 as the navy builds up a planned fleet of the ships of at least 20.
FFG 62s are being built by Fincantieri/Marinette Marine (F/MM) of Marinette, Wisconsin, which was awarded a fixed-price incentive (firm target) contract for Detail Design and Construction (DD&C) for up to 10 ships in the programme – the lead ship plus nine option ships.
“FFG-62s generally have budgeted procurement costs of roughly USD1.1 billion to USD1.2 billion each,” CRS noted in its report Navy Constellation (FFG-62) Class Frigate Program: Background and Issues for Congress , released on 21 March.
“The lead ship in the program has a higher estimated procurement cost (about USD1.4 billion) than the follow-on ships because it is at the top of the production learning curve for the class, and because the lead ship's procurement cost incorporates much of the detailed design/nonrecurring engineering (DD/NRE) costs for the class,” CRS pointed out.
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