(MENAFN- Live Mint) The US Navy is cutting back its orders for a new class of guided-missile frigate that's been beset by delays, shifting away from a vessel that President Donald Trump once touted as“the most beautiful.”

The Navy is reducing its orders for the Constellation-class frigate to two from six, and even those two will remain under review, Navy Secretary John Phelan said in a statement. He said the decision was part of a new emphasis on speedy fleet expansion, and that funds designated for the shops will be“put toward future Navy needs.”

The decision is a blow to Trieste, Italy-based Fincantieri SpA, whose Wisconsin-based subsidiary had been contracted to build the frigates. The company“will be involved” in the Navy's plans, Phelan said. About $2.5 billion has been spent to date, the Navy said in a separate statement.

“Keeping this critical workforce employed and the yard viable for future Navy shipbuilding is of foremost concern,” Phelan said. A key factor in today's decision is“the need to grow the fleet faster to meet tomorrow's threats,” he said.

Trump touted the contracts toward the end of his first term as president, praising both their maneuverability and the fact that the Fincantieri subsidiary was based in the swing state of Wisconsin. In his closing remarks at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Trump reminded the audience of that fact.

“It was a big contract that everybody wanted,” Trump said.“I gave it to Wisconsin, but we're going to have a lot of that built right here in the state of Wisconsin and all other states.”

But the program has long been beset by trouble. The Navy disclosed in April 2024 that the first frigate - which started construction in 2022 - was projected to be three years later than its contracted April 2026 delivery date. Much of the blame was put on difficulties in hiring an experienced workforce.

The first vessel is 12% complete and the second has not started construction, according to the Navy. It said“contractor performance did not factor into the decision to terminate for convenience.”

Fincantieri has been“a committed partner, and the Navy values this partnership, our investment and together we want to rapidly deliver capabilities to warfighters,” the company said in a statement. It said it was counting on the Navy to“channel work on amphibious, special mission, and icebreaking vessels into our system of shipyards, while they determine how we can support with new types of small surface combatants and unmanned platforms that they want to rapidly field.”

Each frigate is estimated to cost $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion, with the first ship topping $1.3 billion.

In a 2024 report, the Government Accountability Office said the Navy failed to ensure that the vessel's design was ready to proceed before awarding the project to Fincantieri. Inadequate review meant that construction began“before the design was sufficiently stable to support that activity,” according to the report.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

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