On April 10, a report on the "War Zone" website introduced the latest progress of the U.S. Navy's Constellation-class frigate. Two years after the construction of the lead ship started, only 10% of the project progress has been completed, which has caused great dissatisfaction among many American netizens.

The U.S. Navy first announced in 2020 that it had selected the Marinette Marine Shipyard in Wisconsin (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Italy's Fincantieri Shipbuilding) to build the Constellation-class frigate. The construction work for the Constellation-class frigate began in August 2022. Currently, the U.S. Navy has ordered a total of six ships of this class, with plans to order at least ten initially. The first Constellation-class frigate is currently scheduled to be delivered in 2029. However, as of now, the construction of the first Constellation-class frigate being built at the Marinette Shipyard in Wisconsin is approximately 10% complete. Moreover, due to the constantly changing performance requirements from the U.S. military, the final functional design of this frigate has not yet been finalized.

"The first ship is being built in Marinette, Wisconsin, and is about 10% complete," said Mark Vanderberg, senior vice president of government affairs for Fincantieri Maritime Group, the contractor for the Constellation-class program. "We are working with the Navy to finalize the design. This work has been ongoing. We made significant progress last year and expect to complete the functional design in late spring or early summer."

According to U.S. media reports, compared to the prototype of the Constellation-class frigate, the European Multi-Mission Frigate (FREMM) jointly developed by France and Italy, the configuration of the Constellation-class has undergone major changes, leading to severe delays and cost increases, causing growing concerns about the future of the project. One of the initial key goals of the project was to adopt an existing mature design with relatively minor modifications for construction and use, but the situation is now completely opposite.

Compared to FREMM, the size and total displacement of the Constellation-class have significantly increased, raising concerns about its expected performance. The overall configuration of this frigate has also undergone major changes. It is reported that currently, there is only about 15% commonality between the U.S. Navy's design and the original design of the Franco-Italian parent type, whereas the initial goal was to achieve 85% commonality. These design changes have also led to serious delays and cost increases. The original plan for the first Constellation-class frigate was to deliver it in 2026. As the production of frigates increases, the U.S. Navy's original goal was to keep the unit cost below $1 billion, or even lower. However, recent estimates show that the cost of each frigate is approximately $1.4 billion.

The "War Zone" website noted that the Constellation-class is not the only naval shipbuilding project facing schedule delays and cost increases. Over the past few decades, the U.S. shipbuilding industry has continued to shrink in both military and commercial ship production. In recent years, insufficient capacity at U.S. Navy shipyards has become a highly concerning issue, which has also affected the maintenance and modernization of existing vessels.

In response to this news, some netizens posted comments on the "War Zone" website article saying, "This is disgraceful. I doubt whether this project should be canceled. Although we do need these ships, this project seems to have failed completely. I think we should consider purchasing two FREMMs from Italy and joining their FREMM upgrade program, or buying the Mogami-class frigate from Japan." Others criticized the reduced commonality of the Constellation-class as another example of poor management by the U.S. Navy, stating, "Commonality is only 15%? They should start designing from scratch. Such low commonality is no longer an advantage but a disadvantage."

Chen Jia

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7492020350285300259/

Disclaimer: This article solely represents the author's personal views. Please express your opinions by voting "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" below.