Zitat:womöglich ist das ganze Schiff bereits sehr kopflastig geworden.

(03.09.2024, 13:28)Milspec_1967 schrieb: Die vorgesehenen und publizierten AAW-LfK Waffensysteme der Constellation Class benötigen keine Mid Course Guidance mehr.

Zitat:Competition Opens for Second Constellation-class Shipyard

The competition for a second Constellation-class yard has officially begun, with interest from the U.S. Navy on a shipyard that can fulfill construction requirements.

According to a request for information (RFI) posted by NAVSEA and the FFG 62 Constellation Class Frigate Program Office (PMS 515), the U.S. Navy is officially seeking a second shipyard for the FFG 62 program, adding to the capacity of Midwest-based Fincantieri Marinette Marine. A second shipyard, according to the RFI, would need to “demonstrate that they possess the requisite facilities, workforce, and capabilities to perform the work.”

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday and Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro both considered a second shipyard as critically important in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last year. Fincantieri Marinette Marine has also expanded work to two other Fincantieri yards in the region, Fincantieri: Sturgeon Bay, and Fincantieri ACE Marine. [...] Fincantieri Marinette Marine currently has six ships awarded, FFG 62 through FFG 67. The latest two ships were awarded in mid-2024. The lead ship of the class, USS Constellation (FFG 62), was laid down on April 12, 2024. Naval Station Everett, Everett, Washington, will be the home of the first twelve ships according to the U.S. Navy.

Zitat:First Constellation Frigate Only 10% Complete, Design Still Being Finalized

The late and over-budget Constellation class design is still in flux, with only 15% commonality with the frigate it's based on, not 85% as planned. [...]

The first Constellation class frigate for the U.S. Navy is just 10 percent complete more than two years after construction began and nearly five years after the award of the initial contract for the ship. The work is also continuing despite the continued absence of a firm functional design for the vessel, which is still weeks or even months away from being finalized and approved.

Major changes to the Constellation‘s configuration compared to its parent Franco-Italian Fregata Europea Multi-Missione (FREMM) have already led to serious delays and cost increases, and there are growing questions about the program’s future. A key program goal had been to take an in-service design that would only need relatively minor modifications to make it ready for Navy use, which would help keep the work on schedule and budget. The opposite has now happened.

Zitat:U.S. Navy Budget Request Leaves Out Next Constellation-Class Frigate [...]

Each year's proposed Navy budget gets a lot of attention for what's in and what's out, but this year has some big surprises. The next order for a Constellation-class frigate is zeroed out - no frigates are in the budget request. But the Pentagon has asked Congress to set aside $1.7 billion for on-water autonomous systems, along with $730 million for underwater autonomous capabilities.

A senior Navy official told DefenseScoop that the unmanned line items include "new efforts in unmanned undersea and in unmanned surface, to include procuring our medium unmanned surface vessel [MUSV]." [...] Pentagon officials told the outlet that "the Trump administration has not yet decided whether it will move forward" with the frigate.

The Constellation-class faces a long list of challenges. Originally intended as a quick and low-risk adaptation of an existing French-Italian design, the program office opted to alter about 85 percent of the vessel, lengthening it and changing its internal arrangements so that it has little in common with the original. It is running three years behind schedule, the design is not yet complete, and it is on track to deliver about 13 percent overweight, according to GAO; if not corrected, this would reduce margin for future system installations, and could affect performance. The shipbuilder's costs also appear to have gone up, though the Navy has not released the amount of the yard's requests for payment adjustment.