【By Observer News, Mountain Cat】

According to the U.S. "Breaking Defense" website, on December 10 local time, the U.S. Navy's acting procurement chief Jason Porter said at a defense forum held in Washington that a "new frigate based on American design" is currently being advanced. Porter said he believes this future frigate "can be in the water in 2028".

Just recently on November 25, the U.S. Navy officially announced the cancellation of the troubled next-generation "Constellation"-class frigate project and instead considered building a new "medium-sized surface combat vessel", providing sporadic work from other projects to maintain the operations of shipbuilding companies, although specific details are unclear. Before this, the U.S. Navy had already scheduled the construction of at least six "Constellation"-class frigates at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard, with the first ship FFG-62 "Constellation" and FFG-63 "Congress" already under construction and continuing until completion, but the four subsequent ships that had been named were directly canceled.

At last weekend's Reagan National Defense Forum, U.S. Navy Secretary John Richardson had previously stated that the new frigate would be based on "American design" and emphasized that any design modifications must be approved by him. In contrast, the "Constellation"-class frigate project had frequently modified its design based on its European prototype FREMM, leading to significant changes in the design, which was often considered one of the main reasons for the delays and cost overruns of the "Constellation"-class project.

The report mentioned that Richardson had also recently revealed at a private dinner that the new frigate would be a modified version of the "National Security Cutter" (NSC), referring to the U.S. Coast Guard's "Legend"-class patrol vessel. When asked about Richardson's private remarks, a U.S. Navy spokesperson refused to comment further.

The "Legend"-class is the current main large patrol vessel of the U.S. Coast Guard

Huntington Ingalls Industries' Ingalls Shipbuilding had previously built 10 "Legend"-class patrol vessels for the U.S. Coast Guard, and its derivative model "Patrol Frigate" was also one of the contenders for the FFG(X) project. Previously, Ingalls had displayed at least three sub-models of the "Patrol Frigate" proposal for export purposes, according to the degree of modification on the "Legend"-class, they were called "PF 4501", "PF4921", and "PF4923", where the 4501 model was similar to the "Legend"-class, with only a few deck guns, close-in weapons systems, and patrol boats, while 4921 and 4923 added anti-ship missile launchers, air defense missile vertical launch systems, and other high-end weapon configurations.

Models of three "Patrol Frigate" proposals based on the "Legend"-class shown by Ingalls previously

A company spokesperson told "Breaking Defense" that they had become aware of the latest developments regarding the frigate, but could not comment on the related developments of the National Security Cutter. However, the spokesperson also said that, as the company's CEO Chris Kater said, the company would build the ships according to the Navy's requirements. During the previous frigate bidding period, Ingalls did submit an improved proposal based on the "Legend"-class, which had characteristics such as lethality, economy, and low risk. The company still hopes to cooperate with the U.S. Navy to jointly design the ships it needs. Porter also refused to elaborate on the design of the new frigate or the procurement strategy of the shipyard, but said that the Navy and Coast Guard have "very close" cooperation in shipbuilding.

This article is exclusive to Observer News, and may not be reprinted without permission.

Original: toutiao.com/article/7582534109876994595/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.