The Navy’s Constellation-class frigate drama will never end

What you need to know: The U.S. Navy’s plan to modernize its fleet with 20 new Constellation-class frigates is facing significant delays and challenges. Aimed at maintaining a qualitative edge over China’s growing naval power, these multi-role warships are designed for air, surface, submarine and electromagnetic warfare, particularly in coastal waters.

-However, construction of the lead ship, the future USS Constellation, began in 2022 but is now delayed until 2029 – three years behind schedule.

-A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report indicates the program has stalled, citing weight issues and a lack of final design. These setbacks could impact the ships’ speed, operational capability and service life, raising concerns about the Navy’s efforts to modernize effectively.

The U.S. Navy’s Constellation-class frigates are facing delays and challenges

The US Navy has lost its numerical superiority China and wants to maintain its qualitative lead. One way the Navy tries to ensure it has the best possible warships on the seas is by modernizing old ships and adding new ones.

The Constellation-class frigate is part of this effort. However, the guided missile ship program presented the Navy with challenges and delays.

The constellation frigate and its challenges  

The Navy is modernizing its fleet to meet the challenges of tomorrow. As part of this effort, the Navy has planned to purchase twenty Constellation-class frigates.

A warship with multiple missions, the Constellation-class frigate will be able to conduct air warfare, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare and electromagnetic maneuver warfare. Its weight and size will enable the warship to operate in coastal waters and better support conventional and special operations forces.

The warship will be equipped with an Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR), a Baseline Ten (BL10) Aegis Combat System, a Mk-41 Vertical Launch System capable of firing dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles, Naval Strike Missiles and anti-aircraft munitions.

However, the program faced some strong headwinds.

Work on the class’s lead ship, the future USS Constellation, began in 2022, but the warship will not be ready until 2029 or later three year delayaccording to the Navy.

In his latest report on the Constellation-class frigateThe Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimated that the program had stalled. The GAO report also added that it could take more than seven years for construction of a building to begin Constellation Frigate and its delivery to the Navy. Once the Navy receives a new warship, it puts it through rigorous testing and sea trials before giving it the green light to join the active fleet as an operational ship. So it takes up to a decade for one Constellation-class frigate is operational according to the current schedule.

Another problem the Constellation program related to weight and expected lifespan. The Navy gave the green light to begin construction without a final design being available. As a result, the ship will experience unforeseen weight issues that could impact its speed and therefore its operational capability, as well as its ability to add new systems and technologies later, thereby shortening its lifespan.

With the Constellation classAfter nearly a decade, the Navy is returning to the frigate. The Navy’s last frigates were the Oliver Hazard Perry class, which was decommissioned in 2015. The Navy planned to use the Littoral Combat Ship as a replacement, but this program did not produce the intended results and the Navy is in the process of retiring all ships of the classes.

Frigates are easier to manufacture and require smaller crews than destroyers and cruisers. They are smaller and lighter, making them easier to operate in coastal waters. However, they can carry fewer weapons systems than larger warships and could be fired during a sea battle.

About the author:

Stavros Atlamazoglou is an experienced defense journalist specializing in Special Operations and a Greek Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army Headquarters). He holds a BA from Johns Hopkins University and an MA from Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His work has been featured in Business Insider, SandboxxAnd SOFREP.

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