Last month, the US Navy just announced the cancellation of the follow-up construction plan for the Constellation-class frigates. However, less than a month later, on December 19, the US Navy Secretary Fernan announced that they will base the design of the new 4000-ton-class frigate FF(X) on the legendary-class national security patrol ship of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII). This move aims to shorten the design and construction schedule, accelerating the expansion of the fleet.
It is worth noting that this new project is called the FF(X) frigate, not the FFG(X) used by the Constellation-class missile frigate. The letter “G” in the US Navy surface fleet usually represents ships with regional air defense capabilities. By dropping the “G”, the US Navy no longer requires the new frigate to undertake regional air defense missions.
The legendary-class frigate is designed for long-range patrol by the Coast Guard, meeting 90% of military specifications. It features an exceptionally long range and patrol duration, making it more suitable for global maritime patrol than the littoral combat ship. Its survivability has already reached the first-class level of the US military, unlike the Constellation-class, which requires significant design modifications to meet the US military standards. Facing the rapid expansion of the Chinese Navy and its widespread use of gray-zone tactics, the US Navy no longer has time to play by the rules. They can only quickly replenish combat power using existing plans in a wartime production manner, similar to the rapid and mass production of escort destroyers during World War II.
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