Fincantieri Awarded Contract to Build Fourth Constellation-class Frigate
Marinette, Wis. shipbuilder Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM) has been awarded a $526 million contract to build a fourth Constellation class frigate for the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Department of Defense announced.
The contract for the lead frigate and nine option ships, signed in 2020, has a cumulative value of $5.5 billion, including post-delivery availability support and crew training. FMM received the $795 million contract for the first frigate in the Constellation class program, previously known as the FFG(X) program, in April 2020, and the Navy has since exercised three options for follow-on vessels.
Construction on the first frigate, the future USS Constellation, began in late August last year, and FMM is scheduled to deliver that ship in 2026. The series second and third ships will be named USS Congress and USS Chesapeake.
The 496-foot-long Constellation class frigate is an adapted variant of the Italian FREMM (European multi-purpose frigate). Each will have multi-mission capability to conduct air warfare, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare, electronic warfare, and information operations.
The Navy is planning for at least 20 frigates to be built in the near future.
FMM, part of Italian shipbuilding group Fincantieri, is currently committed to the Littoral Combat Ships program for the U.S. Navy and the Multi-Mission Surface Combatants (MMSC) program for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as part of the U.S. Foreign Military Sales plan.