U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Calhoun, a Legend-class National Security Cutter, on the Hudson River during New York Fleet Week in May 2025. The cutters will be the basis of the new FF(X) frigate announced by the Navy on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (Anderson W. Branch/U.S. Navy)
Less than a month after killing the bulk of the Constellation-class frigate program, the Navy announced late Thursday plans to build a replacement “FF(X) frigate” based on a Coast Guard cutter already in service.
“I have directed the acquisition of a new frigate class based on HII’s Legend-class national security cutter design, a proven American built ship,” Navy Secretary John Phelan said in a video announcement on X.
The Navy said in a statement, “The FF(X) will be a smaller, more agile surface combatant designed to complement the fleet’s larger, multi-mission warships and enhance operational flexibility around the globe.”
Phelan said President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have already “signed off” on the “smart, quick, affordable” build. His announcement did not include information on the number of ships to be purchased, or the dollar amounts of the initial and long-term contracts.
The FF(X) will be built at HII shipbuilders’ Ingalls Shipbuilding 800-acre plant in Pascagoula, Miss., Phelan said.
Using the Coast Guard cutter design for the new Navy frigates would fast-track getting hulls into the water by 2028, Phelan said.
While HII would be the lead builder on the cutters-turned-frigates, Phelan said an open competition would likely be held to build in other American shipyards.
Phelan did not specifically say if Wisconsin-based Fincantieri Marinette Marine would be involved. The company won the 2020 competition to build the Constellation-class frigates. Originally based on a slightly modified version of a frigate already in service with France and Italy, the program has been plagued by cost overruns, delays, worker shortages, and dozens of design changes. A Navy report last year said the project was 36 months behind schedule on its $22 billion contract.
In cancelling the program last month, the Navy said it would accept the first two ships already under construction, USS Constellation and USS Congress. But the program would be terminated for any additional ships. The Constellation is projected to be delivered in 2029.
A computer-generated design, produced in January 2021, of the Constellation-class frigate built by Fincantieri Marinette Marine. The Navy canceled the program in November 2025 at just two ships. (Fincantieri Marine Group)
At the time of the program cancellation, Fincantieri said it was counting on new work from the Navy to keep its Wisconsin plant open and its workforce in place. Phelan did not mention Fincantieri in the video.
“Shipyards will be measured across one outcome — delivering combat power to the fleet as fast as possible,” Phelan said.
Adm. Daryl Caudle, Chief of Naval Operations, said in the same video that the program would follow what he said was the successful development and construction of the Arleigh Burke-class of destroyers.
“Building it smart from the start, then upgrading it in steps over time as the threats and technology evolve,” Caudle said.
Caudle said the frigate program was an attempt to build ships that were smaller than modern destroyers, which have increasingly taken on the role formerly played by cruisers in the “high-end fight” of naval warfare.
“The FF(X) is a highly adaptable vessel,” the Navy said. “While its primary mission will be surface warfare,” it has the “ability to carry modular payloads and command unmanned systems.”
Phelan said the new ships would fit into the overall Navy strategy for “the Golden Fleet,” a Trump administration initiative under development that would include larger ships, including a possible new generation of battleships, along with larger numbers of smaller surface ships. The ships would be augmented by uncrewed ships that would support the defense of the major warships.
Caudle said lessons learned in the Red Sea and in operations in the Caribbean showed an “undeniable” need to restructure Navy shipbuilding to faster, smaller, and more reliable models.
“Our small surface combatant inventory is a third of what we need,” Caudle said. “We need more capable blue water small combatants to close the gap.”
