The US Navy has announced a $1 billion contract award to Fincantieri Marinette Marine for the next two Constellation-class frigates, Report informs referring to USNI News.
The award is for FFG-66 and FFG-67, the fifth and sixth frigates in the program, according to a Pentagon contract announcement. Fincantieri is slated to finish the work in April 2030.
The award comes the same day Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro announced at Fleet Week in New York that FFG-66 will be named USS Hamilton. The ship’s namesake is Alexander Hamilton, who was President George Washington’s Treasury Secretary.
The contract award also comes as the frigate program faces delays due to ongoing workforce challenges at the yard in Marinette, Wisconsin and a still incomplete design.
In a shipbuilding review earlier this year, Navy officials said the lead ship in the class could be up to three years late, pushing the potential delivery out from 2026 to 2029, USNI News previously reported.
The design for the Constellation-class frigates is based off the FREMM parent design that is in service with the Italian and French navies, but Naval Sea Systems Command has altered the drawings to meet US Navy standards. While the design at one point shared 85 percent commonality with the FREMM, it’s not closer to 15 percent.