By Ryan ChanShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberThe United States suffered a setback in building its warship fleet amid China's growing sea power after the U.S. Navy terminated a frigate program plagued by significant delays.
Secretary of the Navy John Phelan announced on Tuesday a "strategic shift" away from the Constellation-class frigate program. The first ship, with construction beginning in 2022, is only 12 percent complete, and its delivery has been pushed from 2026 to 2029.
Operating the world's largest navy by number of vessels, China has built more than 40 ships in the Type 054 frigate family across four variants, the defense outlet Naval News reported. The ships serve as a major component of China's surface combatant force.
Newsweek reached out to the Chinese Foreign Ministry for comment.
Why It Matters
According to a Pentagon report on Chinese military power, China's navy includes more than 370 ships and submarines, including about 140 major surface combatants such as destroyers and frigates, enabling Beijing to extend its military reach beyond East Asia into the broader western Pacific and Indian Ocean, challenging U.S. naval supremacy.
As part of efforts to bolster its surface fleet, the U.S. Navy previously planned a force of 73 small surface combatants, including the Constellation-class frigates, that are less expensive to procure, operate and maintain than larger vessels such as cruisers and destroyers. The Navy retired its last Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate in 2015.
...What To Know
The Constellation-class frigate was described by the Navy as "an agile, multi-mission warship" capable of conducting both ocean-going and littoral missions, which would help increase a "combat-credible forward presence" and provide a maritime advantage.
To reduce design time, cost, schedule and technical risk in building the ship, the Navy decided to build the Constellation-class frigates as a modified version of the Italian-French FREMM frigates, according to a March Congressional Research Service report.
However, design commonality between the two types of frigates fell sharply from about 85 percent to below 15 percent, the U.S. Naval Institute News reported in April 2024. The significant changes to the original design were made to meet Navy requirements.
Congress appropriated funding for the first six frigates between fiscal 2020 and 2024, while the Navy planned to acquire 20 frigates at a total cost exceeding $22 billion.
Of the frigates procured, Phelan said the first two will continue construction but remain under review, while the last four, which have not begun construction, will be canceled.
Meanwhile, across the Pacific, the Chinese navy operates a large number of frigates, including the Type 054, Type 054A, Type 054AG and Type 054B. The Type 054B is China's first new-generation stealth frigate, with enhanced command systems and firepower.
Chinese frigates are often dispatched overseas, including on counter-piracy missions off the Horn of Africa and a South Pacific deployment near Australia earlier this year. They have also been part of an aircraft carrier-led strike group in the western Pacific.
By comparison, the 7,300-ton Constellation-class frigate is larger than both the Type 054B vessel, which displaces 5,500 to 6,000 tons, and the 4,100-ton Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate. The U.S. Arleigh Burke-class destroyer displaces 9,700 tons.
In terms of firepower, both the Constellation-class and Type 054B frigates are equipped with a vertical launch system of 32 missile tubes. However, the Constellation-class has 16 box launchers for anti-ship cruise missiles, while the Type 054B has only eight.
...What People Are Saying
U.S. Secretary of the Navy John Phelan said: "From day one I made it clear: I won't spend a dollar if it doesn't strengthen readiness or our ability to win. To keep that promise, we're reshaping how we build and field the Fleet—working with industry to deliver warfighting advantage, beginning with a strategic shift away from the Constellation-class frigate program."
Alex Luck, a naval analyst in Australia, wrote for Naval News: "Further [Type 054B frigates] may only commence construction once [People's Liberation Army Navy] has tested the first two frigates and considered possible improvements or adaptions to the design. In the meantime additional Type 054AG will provide fleet growth and enable retirement of older types with PLAN."
What Happens Next
It remains to be seen how the U.S. Navy will fill the "frigate gap" with its Chinese counterpart as both sides jostle for naval dominance in the contested western Pacific.
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