According to information published by Fincantieri Marinette Marine on August 31, 2022, the company officially started construction on the U.S. Navy’s first Constellation-class guided missile frigate in Northeast Wisconsin.
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Artist rendering of the future Constellation class frigate USS Constellation (Picture source: FMM)
The future USS Constellation moved into the next stage of development as shipbuilders began cutting steel for the ship with members of the Navy, representatives of elected officials, and community leaders observing this material start to a class of ships.
Two years ago the Navy selected FMM to design and build the Constellation-class frigate, and since then the shipyard and its employees have been remarkably busy. The shipyard received extensive upgrades and new facilities to efficiently build these important vessels.
The Navy is planning for at least 20 frigates to be built in the near future, and Fincantieri intends to be a driving force in this surface combatant community.
Fincantieri Marinette Marine is on contract to build the first three frigates, which the Navy named Constellation, Chesapeake, and Congress, with a historical nod to three of the original six frigates commissioned by the Navy in the late 1780s. FMM has contract options with the Navy for seven additional ships.
Fincantieri Marinette Marine used the European frigate FREMM as the basis for their frigate design, taking an operationally proven vessel in service around the world and making it even better.
The Constellation class is a class of multi-mission guided-missile frigates under development for the United States Navy as a follow-on to the modular littoral combat ship. The U.S. Navy announced the FFG(X) frigate project in the United States Department of Defense Request For Information (RFI) on 10 July 2017.
F/MM officials state that its FFG-62 design is based on the Italian variant, which has a length of 496.1 feet (144,59 m), a beam of 64.6 feet (19.69 m), a draft of 28.5 feet ( 8.68 m) and a displacement of 6,900 tons.
The FFG-62 will be powered by Combined diesel-electric and gas (CODLAG) propulsion system and will be able to reach a top speed of 26 knots (48 km/h) with a maximum cruising range of 6,000 nautical miles at 16 knots (30 km/h).
The frigate is armed with RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile launched from Mk 49 Guided Missile Launching System (21 cell), Mk 110 57 mm gun with the Advanced Low-Cost Munition Ordnance (ALaMO) projectile and related systems.
