With Constellation Frigates Canceled, Save Ticonderoga Cruisers

2025-12-01 03:14:39

(MENAFN- Asia Times) The US Navy has canceled the Constellation-class frigate program and will only complete two ships already under construction.

Before the cancellation, the frigate program was delayed by 36 months, with the first construction to be completed in 2029. Then the new frigates were to undergo extensive testing, probably delaying the frigate's entry to the fleet for another 3 to 5 years, or between 2032 and 2034.

The Constellation-class frigate was supposed to replace the incredibly useless Littoral Combat Ship, the first“street fighter” as a Navy admiral once called it, that was built almost without weapons except for a Swedish 57mm gun with a limited range. The LCS was“envisioned to be a networked, agile, stealthy surface combatant capable of defeating anti-access and asymmetric threats in the littorals“

The Navy's own“experts” concluded that the LCS would not survive in combat, but even so the Navy still has 25 of them (11 Freedom Class and 14 Independence Class), though it has scrapped 7. Each LCS with mission packages costs around $500 million, with annual operating cost for each LCS $70 million.

The Freedom-class littoral combat ship Detroit sails through the Caribbean Sea. Detroit had suffered a casualty to its propulsion system and needed to return to port in Florida for repairs. Photo: MC2 Anderson Branch / US Navy

The Navy could save a bundle of money and personnel by dumping all the LCS ships.

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