The US Navy has formally cancelled the bulk of its Constellation-class frigate programme, ending plans for a 20-ship fleet and confirming that only the first two vessels already under construction will be completed.
The decision, reported in updated Navy documentation and noted in the programme’s history, draws a line under one of the service’s most ambitious surface-combatant projects of the past decade.
The Constellation class, derived from the Italian FREMM design and selected in 2020 under the FFG(X) competition, was intended to replace the troubled Littoral Combat Ships with a more survivable, multi-mission frigate equipped with Aegis Baseline 10, the SPY-6 radar, a 32-cell Mk 41 vertical launch system, towed sonar arrays and over-the-horizon strike missiles.
The lead ship, Constellation (FFG-62), has been under construction since 2024 at Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Wisconsin, with a second ship, Congress (FFG-63), following.
Fleet plans originally envisioned up to 20 ships. That ambition collapsed in November 2025, when the programme was cancelled with four ships on order still not yet started and 18 of the planned 20 struck from the future fleet structure. The first two hulls will be finished, but no further frigates will be built.
The cancellation follows years of rising cost estimates, schedule pressure, design integration challenges and persistent concern over industrial-base capacity. Early budget submissions indicated the first ship would cost around USD 1.28 billion, with follow-on hulls expected between USD 850 and 950 million. Instead, the programme absorbed delays and escalating expenses that undermined confidence in its long-term viability.
Given all the changes the USN were making to the FREMM design even after they had started cutting steel for the first hull, its not surprising that the project went off the rails. Question is now, what next? The USN have made a balls up of the Zumwalt, the two LCS’s and now the Constellation class, and are struggling with their sub building/sustaining. So where to next as the Burkes and Tico’s keep ageing?
Apparently Trumpy wants battleships… 🤣
Ticos are almost all gone
They need Adm Rickover 2.0 to kick a$$. The USN’s multiple program C-Fs illustrate this. Mind you, 50% of America thinks Jesus will sort things so no worries!
Another chance for the Type 26 to get picked.
Unfortunately I doubt it, as the USN would just repeat the process of taking a perfectly good frigate design, and bloating it during the ‘Americanisation’ process.