Lockheed Martin said it has opted against pursuing the guided-missile frigate (FFG[X]) detail design and construction contract as a prime contractor, and instead will focus on winning naval competitions for ship combat systems, anti-submarine warfare (ASW) processing, and advanced electronic warfare (EW) technology programmes.
Lockheed Martin has decided not to seek the prime contractor's role for the guided-missile FFG(X) programme. (Lockheed Martin)
Despite some public reporting to the contrary, the decision is not due to any concern about meeting ship-design requirements for the FFG(X), which has used the Lockheed Martin Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) as a template, Joe DePietro, Lockheed Martin vice-president of small combatants and ship systems, told Jane’s on 30 May.
“We came through two design reviews,” DePietro noted.
What prompted greater company scrutiny of the Lockheed Martin’s preferred role in the FFG(X) programme, he said, was the US Navy (USN) decision to provide combat systems, automation, and significant parts of ship integration as government-furnished equipment (GFE).
In an interview with Jane’s on 6 May during the 2019 Navy League Sea-Air-Space Symposium, De Pietro had identified integration as being one of the differentiating selling points for the Lockheed Martin FFG(X) concept.
“With LCS, everything was bundled together,” De Pietro explained on 30 May. “Ships, automation, combat system, integration – all being under one acquisition vehicle. As the FFG(X) has evolved, more and more systems have moved into GFE.”
That work will be procured under separate contracts, which Lockheed Martin will now try to win.
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