The U.S. Navy’s Constellation-Class Frigate Nightmare Summed Up in 4 Words

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Too Litte, Too Late? The U.S. Navy’s Constellation-class frigate program aims to fill the gap between Littoral Combat Ships and DDG 51 destroyers.

-These multi-mission ships will feature advanced Aegis radar, VLS missile systems, and electronic warfare capabilities to excel in blue-water and littoral operations.

-Despite production delays caused by fast-tracking construction before finalizing the design, the Navy is optimistic about recovery efforts, including expanding production to additional shipyards.

-Built for distributed maritime operations, the frigates will function as highly networked platforms capable of autonomous and group missions, aligning with modern naval warfare demands.

Constellation-Class Frigates: The Navy’s New Powerhouse Faces Delays

The US Navy’s vision for a multi-mission, well-armed fleet of 20 Constellation-class Frigates could still see the light of day now that the service is surging to address production delays, make design adjustments, and move quickly to add a second shipyard to build the ships. 

The embattled Frigate program, beset by production delays and design complications, represents the Navy’s intent to engineer a new class of warships designed to fit between the lightly armored Littoral Combat Ship and heavier DDG 51 destroyers. 

However, the Fincantieri Marinette Marine ship is intended to be a heavily armed Aegis-capable warship capable of open or “blue water” maritime warfare. 

Constellation-Class Frigate Production Problems

The principal concern and problem with the ship, according to Congressional and Government Accountability Office independent reviewers and critics, is that the delays resulted from efforts to fast-track construction of the vessel before the design was fully prepared and refined for production. 

The Navy has advanced an ambitious timetable and schedule for building and producing the ship for many years. 

Initially, it planned to have as many as five built over the next few years. However, this ambitious schedule and fleet expansion plan may have collided with needed efforts to establish the requisite specs and ship designs entirely. 

Regardless, the effort may be recoverable, with slight delays, as the first ship is not expected to arrive until 2029. 

There is cause for some hope, partly because the service intends to expand production beyond a single shipyard.  

Fincantieri Marinette Marine has been fast-tracking design improvements and moving quickly to expedite construction to align with the Navy’s scheduling and delivery hopes. 

Yet, arrival will indeed be later than initially anticipated. 

U.S. Navy Vision for Frigate

Despite these complications and much discussed and reported growing pains, the US Navy’s Constellation-class Frigate program incorporates an elaborate and sophisticated vision to engineer a special ship with unique attributes.  

Plans and Concepts of Operation for the ship have been developing over many years as the service sought to add a stronger, more lethal alternative to the thinner-skinned and widely criticized Littoral Combat Ship.

While certainly, the LCS has proven its value to a large extent as a shallow-draft, multi-mission countermine, surveillance, and surface warfare vessel, its blue water limitations in part inspired the service’s intent for its new class of Frigates. 

Constellation-Class Specs and Weapons

The ship will be armed with Vertical Launch Systems, Aegis radar, Mk 110 57mm Gun Weapons Systems, electronic warfare, and even the over-the-horizon deck-launched Naval Strike Missile. 

The ship is also being built with Rolling AirFrame Missiles for closer-in small boat, drone and helicopter defense. 

While not quite as heavily armed as a destroyer, the Frigates will operate as substantial blue-water warships with a cutting-edge radar application called Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR radar). 

While not quite as long-range and high-resolution as ballistic missile tracking SPY-6v1 now on DDG 51 destroyers, EASR radar will operate with an air and cruise missile defense capability tailored to its mission set. 

The EASR Radar is on the USS Kennedy Ford-class aircraft carrier and also on some US Navy amphibious assault ships, as it is optimized for air and cruise missile defense. 

The radar can support yet another critical element of the Frigate’s mission set: tracking and countering swarming small-boat attacks. 

A Networked Warship

Regarding Concepts of Operation, the Navy’s intent for its Frigate has substantially evolved over the last several years to incorporate a more widely scoped mission set such as anti-submarine warfare, counter-air, and drone launching capacity. 

Perhaps most significantly, the ship is being prepared for aggregated surface warfare missions and dispersed or disaggregated missions, requiring greater autonomy. 

To accomplish this mission, the Navy explained several years ago that the Frigate must be “networked” to function as a “blue force sensor and weapon influence.”  

The ship’s vision is to ensure it can function successfully in maritime warfare formations such as Carrier Strike Groups and Expeditionary Strike Groups while performing missions independently across vast distances in dispersed formations. 

Therefore, accomplishing this objective means the ship will be engineered with antennas, sensors, transport layer data links, communication systems, and command and control systems that are sufficient to operate independently yet remain connected to the fleet as a sensor “node.”

This concept is, by design, intended to align with the Navy’s Distributed Maritime Operations vision, which seeks to leverage advances in long-range sensors and weaponry to sustain multi-domain connectivity while operating in more survivable “disaggregated” formations.  

As part of this, the Navy is engineering cutting-edge, multi-domain “netted” systems or sensors called Cooperative Engagement Capability intended to connect otherwise disconnected ship-integrated radar systems. 

About the Author: Kris Osborn

Kris Osborn is the Military Affairs Editor of 19FortyFive and President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.