
The Navy on Monday exercised $6 million to $8 million options in the future guided missile frigate (FFG(X)) conceptual design contract for all five contractors.Last February the Navy awarded $15 million conceptual design (CD) contracts each to Austal USA, Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII], Lockheed Martin [LMT], Fincantieri’s Marinette Marine, and General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works (GD BIW) [GD]. The Navy is seeking to minimize program risk by allowing industry to mature designs more quickly to meet the service’s capability requirements (Defense Daily, Feb. 16).These new options range…