Navy finishes FFG(X) debriefings

By Justin Katz / May 20, 2020 at 2:44 PM

The Navy has finished debriefing the losing bidders of its Future Frigate competition, according to the service's acquisition chief.

The Navy awarded a contract to Fincantieri Marinette Marine last month to design and build the new ship. While the service did not disclose what companies submitted bids, Austal USA, Huntington Ingalls Industries and General Dynamics Bath Iron Works were all expected to compete.

Navy acquisition executive Hondo Geurts during a telephone roundtable today also addressed reports questioning the accuracy of cost estimates for the ship, saying he was comfortable with the state of the program.

"We've tried a different approach in frigate to [use] more proven technology both on the combat systems and with the parent design, and in doing that trying to bend the normal cost curve as compared to previous programs," he said.

Geurts did not cite a specific article, but a recent Congressional Research Service report suggested the Navy had underestimated the cost of the ship.

"Setting the estimated cost per thousand tons of displacement of the FFG(X) about equal to that of the Flight III DDG-51 would increase the estimated unit procurement cost of the third and subsequent FFG(X)s from the Navy's estimate of about $940 million to an adjusted figure of about $1,470 million, an increase of about 56%," according to the May 4 CRS report.

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