Foreign frigates & CG cutters

WASHINGTON – The Navy is considering derivatives of foreign ship designs and the Coast Guard’s National Security Cutter for its future frigate, after years of pursuing upgraded versions of its current Littoral Combat Ship. The shift has shaken some in the industry and on Capitol Hill. Austal USA, Marinette Marine and HII-Pascagoula, Miss., are repositioning themselves. Mobile, Ala.’s Austal shipyard builds the Independence variant of LCS, which specializes in high-speed aluminum ships. Austal’s hull is large enough to accommodate high-end equipment like Vertical Launch Systems. Wisconsin’s Marinette Marine, which builds the Freedom LCS, may offer a version of a French-Italian FREMM (Fregata europea multi-missione) designed frigate built by Marinette’s parent company, Fincantieri. HII-Ingalls has proposed two up-gunned versions of its Coast Guard Legend class National Security Cutter as "patrol frigates" for use by the Navy. It likely would be the smallest and least expensive of the competitors. It would also be the only alternative to LCS that is solely American. Many of the foreign frigates are over-kill for the U.S. Navy’s requirements. It’s going to be a best-value type “full and open” competition, acting Navy Secretary Sean Stackley told reporters after the U.S. Naval Institute’s annual meeting, “so cost and capability will be factors. ... I expect there to be a range of designs,” both LCS and other variants. (Source: Breaking Defense 05/11/17)