US Navy wants first FF(X) frigate in the water by 2028
Contained inside the Fiscal Year 2027 price range documentation, the US Navy has laid out it is plans for the new FF(X) program, looking for to quickly discipline a brand new class of smaller floor vessels with the launch of the first Frigate happening in the first Quarter of Fiscal Year 2029 (late calendar yr 2028).
Following the first FF(X)’s launch due in Quarter 1 FY 2029, the vessel is deliberate to be delivered by the finish of Quarter 3 of Fiscal Year 2030 (April-June of calendar yr 2030). If the FF(X) program adheres to this timeline, it might make one in every of the shortest supply timelines in latest US Navy historical past, with the first vessel of the class delivered ~4 years after program begin.
In order to perform such a decent timeline by US shipbuilding requirements, the Navy plans for the prime contractor in Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) to make use of elements from the canceled eleventh ship of the Legend-class of coast guard cuttersfrom which FF(X) is derived. The utilization of the Legend-class as a foundation has probably truncated the timelines throughout the board resulting from the similarity of the vessels permitting for the preliminary design course of and building to take as little time as potential.
Funding for the program in FY 2027 is listed at ~$1.429 billion US {dollars} to go straight in direction of the procurement of the lead ship, alongside an addition $212 million earmarked for additional analysis and growth. Most of the Research and Development funding is slated to go in direction of validating ship techniques (together with fight techniques), future check planning, integration work modular payloads in addition to USVs, and design research in regards to the second flight of the frigates.
The FF(X) Flight 2 Question
Design work in regards to flight 2 of FF(X) has already been initiated, with the flight 1 configuration to make up a minimum of the first two vessels. These 2 (or extra) ships can have as little modifications from the National Security Cutter baseline as potential to scale back manufacturing time, with the principal variations being the set up of a Rolling Airframe Missile launcher for level protection, the addition of an SPS-77 variant air search radar, and the repurposing of the stern boat ramp to allow carriage of containerized payloads.
Inquiries into potential designs for Flight 2 are already listed by the Navy as being underway. The US Navy said in it is analysis and growth price range paperwork for FY 2027 it’s already contemplating the addition of Vertical Launching Systems (VLS) into the design itself, relatively then counting on the utilization of containerized payloads for the ship’s principal armament.
The addition of VLS cells would allow the Frigate to internally carry a big swathe of the Navy’s normal munitions akin to the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (RIM-162 ESSM), SM-2, and SM-6 sequence floor to air missiles, in addition to the RUM-139 Vertical Launched Anti Submarine Rocket (VL-ASROC). The said rationale is to raised permit the Frigates to be versatile, enabling their utilization past the stated low-end engages the Flight 1 variant is focused in direction of.
Anti-Submarine Warfare can also be of explicit concern, with the US Navy additionally trying into the potential integration of innate Anti-Submarine warfare techniques into FF(X)s structure. 55-60 FF(X) frigates are deliberate, with a majority probably being of an upgraded normal with enhanced ASW and AAW capabilities.