Navy FFG(X) Program Cost Estimates Trending Downward

ARLINGTON, Va. — The cost estimates of the Navy’s future guided-missile frigate (FFG(X) are coming in under the required threshold and trending downward toward the cost objective, the program manager said.

Speaking Jan. 17 to an audience at the Surface Navy Association symposium, Dr. Regan Campbell noted that the cost threshold for the ship will be under the $950 million threshold (in fiscal 2018 dollars).

“We started close to the $950 [million],” Campbell said. “We’re trending close to the $800 [million].”

She estimated that government-furnished equipment will total to one-third of the cost of the ship. Most of the equipment is common with other ship types, its selection aiding in the control of costs.

The Navy plans to fund one FFG(X) in 2020 and two per year thereafter for a current requirement of 20 ships.

The program office has completed a set of initial design reviews of the five competing designs and is planning a second set this spring. The program is in the 11th month of the 16-month conceptual design phase competition.

“We now have a CDD [Capabilities Description Document] that has been Navy-approved,” Campbell said, noting that the program is soon coming up for approval before the Joint Requirements Oversight Committee. “Our requirements are secure.”

The program office expects to issue a draft request for proposals in the spring for a detailed design and construction contract award in the fourth quarter of 2020. The down-select will award only one design.

The FFG(X) will be equipped with the Raytheon-built Enterprise Air Search Radar, the Mk110 57 mm gun, the Mk41 Vertical Launching System — armed with the Standard Missile-2 surface-to-air missile and Block II of the Evolved SeaSparrow Missile — the Block II of the SLQ-32 SEWIP (Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program), with a space reservation for SEWIP Block III. The ship will be able to carry one MH-60R Seahawk helicopter and one MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicle.