WASHINGTON — Marinette Marine has won a coveted contract from the U.S. Navy to design and produce the next-generation small surface combatant, the guided-missile frigate (FFG(X), the public affairs office of the Navy’s Program Executive Office-Unmanned and Small Combatants said in an April 30 release.
The Marinette Marine deal is good for detail design and construction (DD&C) of up to 10 guided-missile frigates, consisting of one base ship and nine option ships.
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The FFG(X) will have multimission capability to conduct air warfare, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare, electronic warfare and information operations.
“The Navy’s Guided-Missile Frigate (FFG(X)) will be an important part of our future fleet,” said Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Mike Gilday. “FFG(X) is the evolution of the Navy’s small surface combatant with increased lethality, survivability and improved capability to support the National Defense Strategy across the full range of military operations. It will no doubt help us conduct distributed maritime operations more effectively, and improve our ability to fight both in contested blue-water and littoral environments.”
The new ship will include an Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR) radar, Baseline Ten (BL10) AEGIS Combat System, a Mk41 Vertical Launch System (VLS), communications systems, Mk57 Gun Weapon System (GWS) countermeasures and added capability in the EW/IO area with design flexibility for future growth.
“I am very proud of the hard work from the requirements, acquisition and shipbuilder teams that participated in the full and open competition, enabling the Navy to make this important decision today,” said James Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition.
“Throughout this process, the government team and our industry partners have all executed with a sense of urgency and discipline, delivering this contract award three months ahead of schedule. The team’s intense focus on cost, acquisition and technical rigor enabled the government to deliver the best value for our taxpayers as we deliver a highly capable next-generation frigate to our warfighters.”
The acquisition process for FFG(X) began in 2017. Since then, the Navy has worked with industry to balance cost and capability. The Navy released the FFG(X) DD&C request for proposals to industry last June. Technical proposals were received in August and cost proposals were received the following month. A full and open competition took place with multiple offers received.
