The Navy’s fiscal year (FY) 2025 shipbuilding request documents confirm delivery of the service’s first new Constellation-class frigate will be delayed over a year from last year’s forecast.
The documents expect the future USS Constellation (FFG-62) will be delivered in December 2027, over a year later than expected in the FY ‘24 budget request of September 2026.
This is also later than delays mentioned in the annual FY 2023 report from the office of the Director of Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E), which said the first frigate delivery was delayed to December 2026 (Defense Daily, Feb. 2).
In January, frigate deputy program manager Andy Bosak said the program had a “challenge in the schedule” related to Fincantieri being hundreds of workers short in its shipyard.
At that time, media reports said the Navy thinks the first frigate may be about a year behind schedule, delivering in 2027.
Notably, the FY ‘25 budget documents also said “delivery dates for FFG-63 and remaining hulls are under review.”
In January, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro directed a new comprehensive analysis of Navy shipbuilding amid the reports on the frigate delays (Defense Daily, Jan. 12).
That analysis is being conducted by Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development & Acquisition (ASN RD&A) Nickolas Guertin and Commander of Naval Sea Systems Command Vice Adm. James Downey. It was due to Del Toro’s desk within 45 days from Jan. 11, on Feb 25.
During the Navy’s FY ‘25 budget press conference on March 11, Under Secretary of the Navy Erik Raven said the service expected the review to be “complete pretty soon. It will provide, I think, a good picture of where we are across all shipbuilding programs.”
Before that review is finalized, FY ‘25 budget documents said the current Navy schedule expects the second hull, FFG-63, to be delivered in January 2028, four months later than the FY ‘24 budget expectation of September 2027.
The documents also predicted later delivery dates for some of the follow-on frigates between the FY ‘24 and ‘25 budget request documents: FFG-64 delivery was delayed from August to November 2028, FFG-65 from October 2028 to January 2029, and FFG-67 from August 2029 to July 2030.
However, the schedule also sees FFG-66 delivery moved up from March 2030 to November 2029, FFG-68 from February to January 2031, FFG-69 remains at July 2031 and FFG-70 remains at January 2032, FFG-71 pushed slightly from June to July 2032, FFG-72 pulled up from July to June 2033, and FFG-73 remains with an expected delivery date of January 2034.
The FY 2025 budget request also plans for the 13th frigate, FFG-74, to be contracted in March 2029 and delivered in July 2034.
The Navy requested $1.17 billion for one more frigate in FY 2025 as part of the “sawtooth” strategy of alternating 1-2-1-2 frigates every year to reach an initially planned 20 ships.
The service plans to award contracts for FFG-66 and -67 next month and FFG-68 in April 2025.