The US Navy has cancelled its Constellation-class guided-missile frigate (FFG) program, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan confirmed on Tuesday, November 25.
In a social media post, Mr Phelan said that there will be, "a strategic shift away from the Constellation-class frigate program," and that the navy and industry partners, "have reached a comprehensive framework that terminates, for the navy's convenience, the last four ships of the class, which have not begun construction."
The Secretary confirmed that work will continue on the first two FFGs, the future USS Constellation and USS Congress, at Fincantieri Marinette Marine's (FMM) shipyard in Wisconsin, though those ships will remain under review during the so-called strategic shift.
The Constellation-class frigates will be variants of the European Multi-Mission Frigates (Fregate Europeenne Multimissions; FREMM) designed and built jointly by French defence shipbuilder the Naval Group and Italy's Fincantieri for their respective countries' navies as well as export customers.
"From day one I made it clear: I won't spend a dollar if it doesn't strengthen readiness or our ability to win," said Mr Phelan.
The Constellation-class program has been beset by issues that have led to delays in the ships' construction and scheduled deliveries, as confirmed by navy officials and FMM representatives.
For instance, class lead ship Constellation was originally scheduled to enter service with the navy in 2026. However, design changes have compelled the navy to push her commissioning date to 2029.