Less than a month after the cancellation of the Constellation class was announced due to cost overruns and schedule issues, the U.S. Navy revealed that it will turn to the design of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Legend-class cutters as the basis for its future FF(X) frigate. This effort will be carried out in conjunction with the selection of HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding yard as the lead builder. The decision has been confirmed in recent days by two senior officials: U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan and the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Daryl Caudle.
Quoting some of the remarks made by Secretary Phelan: “We will pursue the same warfighting strategy and mobilize the American industrial base to achieve it: competition, accountability, and real steel in the water. To achieve speed and scale, I have directed the acquisition of a new class of frigate based on HII’s Legend-class National Security Cutter design, a proven, U.S.-built ship that has protected the nation’s interests both at home and abroad.”
Expanding on additional details, U.S. defense media have reported that the Navy is preparing to award HII a contract intended to accelerate the construction process of the first ship of the class as much as possible. This would buy time for a formal competitive process for the remaining vessels. However, regardless of the outcome of that competition, the expectation is that the contract will go to a U.S. industrial player that already has a mature design and the capabilities needed to begin construction without major modifications that could delay the program—reflecting lessons learned from the failed Constellation class.
According to initial planning, officials expect the U.S. Navy to receive the first ship by 2028, after which construction could begin simultaneously at multiple shipyards under a “build-to-print” model. In this regard, it is worth recalling that the Navy aims to add more than 70 new combat ships to meet its strategic requirements, making it essential to rely on a reliable and well-known design in order to accelerate a process that has already suffered years of delays.
Following this logic, the service has reduced its own requirements for the future FF(X) frigates, adjusting them in line with the recommendations of a recent review. Among the proposed changes is a move toward a mission-module approach, using containerized systems that can be installed on the ship’s deck and easily swapped depending on the mission. An illustrative example is the Mk 70 Typhon vertical launcher being developed in cooperation with the U.S. Army. In this way, the frigates could be employed in a wide range of missions of lower intensity than those requiring a higher-capability destroyer, leading to more efficient use of available resources.
For the time being, and in the absence of further details on the final design of the ships, it is useful to review the current characteristics of the Legend-class cutters in service with the U.S. Coast Guard. In terms of dimensions, each unit has a length of approximately 127.5 meters and a beam of around 16.5 meters, accommodating a displacement of more than 4,500 tons. As for speed, the ships can reach up to 28 knots, while their range extends to about 12,000 nautical miles.
Operated by a crew of 148 personnel, the vessels are equipped with state-of-the-art command and control systems that enable rapid integration into larger naval forces, as well as advanced sensors providing broad situational awareness in any maritime environment. In addition, the design includes a flight deck capable of accommodating naval helicopters, along with protection systems that allow the ship to defend itself against chemical, biological, or radiological threats.
Image credits: U.S. Coast Guard.
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