U.S. Navy secretary's "strategic shift" sinks four frigates
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Navy Secretary John Phelan, during a visit to Naval Special Warfare Command. Photo: Paola Peredo/DVIDS
The Constellation-class frigate program appears dead in the water. Of the six warships on the books, four are now nixed.
Why it matters: The cancellation, announced two days before Thanksgiving, marks U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan's first big swing since being sworn in this spring — and it's fueled a lot of online debate.
State of play: Phelan in a video shared on X said he wanted to reshape "how the Navy builds and fields its fleet," promising to "not spend a single taxpayer dollar unless it contributes directly to readiness and our ability to defeat future threats."
- The Constellation effort had been haunted by cost and schedule overruns, as well as design and weight creep. That's despite initially being touted as a tweak to an existing design adopted by French and Italian navies.
- Phelan described the move as a "strategic shift" conducted in concert with industry. Builder Fincantieri in a statement referenced a new "framework" and said it would continue supporting the service, including on amphibious and icebreaking orders and "other special missions."
- The six-frigate project was worth around $5.5 billion, per Defense News. Fincantieri has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into stateside infrastructure, including in Wisconsin.
What they're saying: "If you're concerned about growing the size of the fleet, buying more frigates was not the path to doing that," Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, told Axios.
- "Throwing more good money after bad is never the answer," he said. "It's a little bit counterintuitive, because it's canceling the ship. But I think [Phelan] would say that this is the hard choice you've got to make."
- "It was not unexpected that they finally pulled the plug on it. The only question, really, within the Navy was: How do you extract yourself?"
Zoom in: Phelan has played up his business chops while acknowledging his lack of prior Navy experience, telling Congress and other stakeholders he can put fresh eyes on old problems.
- Debates have long raged over capacity and competency at American shipyards. U.S. output is a fraction of China's.
Zoom out: President Trump, meanwhile, has put seapower on a pedestal.
- Trump has launched a shipbuilding office, taken issue with rust and corrosion in conversations with the Navy secretary and, more recently, suggested bringing back battleships.
- "I look at different ships in the old pictures; I used to watch 'Victory at Sea,'" the president told generals and admirals gathered in Virginia. "I don't think it's old technology when you look at those guns."
What we're watching: The comparisons drawn between the Constellation-class frigate and the Zumwalt-class destroyer. Both were dramatically pared back.
Go deeper: Navier touts new boats amid push to "out-innovate" U.S. rivals
