FMM to build US Navy’s 2nd Constellation-class frigate

FMM, U.S. subsidiary of shipbuilding group Fincantieri Marinette Marine, will build the second Constellation-class guided-missile frigate for the US Navy.

This will be an approx. $555 million project.

FMM is currently working on the detailed design phase of building the first-in-class USS Constellation. Construction is planned to start at the end of 2021. The frigate expected to be delivered in 2026.

A contract for the first-in-class Constellation frigate was awarded to FMM in 2020, with the options for further nine ships, as well as post-delivery availability support and crew training. A cumulative value for Fincantieri amounting to 5.5 billion dollars.

The U.S. Navy plans to build ten additional vessels as part of the Constellation program, for a total of 20.

Fincantieri’s proposal is based on the FREMM frigate platform, said to be globally recognized as the most technologically advanced, and the backbone of a ten-unit program for the Italian Navy which Fincantieri is currently completing.

FMM is the spearhead of Fincantieri Marine Group (FMG), which controls two other shipyards also located in the Great Lakes, Wisconsin – Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding and Fincantieri Ace Marine. In addition to the Littoral Combat Ships program, FMM is building four Multi-Mission Surface Combatants (MMSC) to be delivered to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.