The Department of Defense announced that Fincantieri’s U.S. subsidiary, Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM), has been awarded a contract worth over $1 billion to build the fifth and sixth 496'x64.6' Constellation-class frigates for the U.S. Navy.
The contract for the lead frigate and nine options, signed in 2020, has a cumulative value of $5.5 billion, including post-delivery availability support and crew training.
Fincantieri’s proposal is based on the FREMM frigate platform, globally recognized as the most technologically advanced, and the backbone of a 10-unit program for the Italian Navy which Fincantieri is completing at present at its Italian shipyards.
Construction on the first frigate, the future USS Constellation, is currently ongoing at the newly revamped Wisconsin shipyard in Marinette.
The frigates, which will have 18' drafts, will feature Rolls-Royce naval generator sets for phase one of the U.S. Navy’s Constellation (FFG-62) class frigate program, previously known as the FFG(X) program. Rolls-Royce has received a contract for the first shipset to provide four naval generator sets, each rated at 3,000 kW at 1,800 rpm.
The Navy Constellation (FFG-62) Class Frigate is a multi-mission warship designed for operation in littoral and blue water environments to conduct air, anti-submarine, surface and electronic warfare, in addition to information operations. The generator sets are based on the MTU 20V 4000 M53B engine and provide a total power output of 12 MW for propulsion and on-board power supply.
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. The company serves commercial and government customers in the U.S. FMM is committed to the Littoral Combat Ships program for the Navy and the Multi-Mission Surface Combatants (MMSC) program for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as part of the U.S. Foreign Military Sales plan.
