Prospective House seapower chairman singles out FFG(X) as cause for concern

A House lawmaker likely to lead oversight of Navy shipbuilding singled out the service's next-generation frigate program as one of his big concerns going into the new year.

Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT), who was the ranking member on the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee last year, spoke about the frigate program, known as FFG(X), Jan. 16 at the Surface Navy Association symposium in Arlington, VA.

"I think there's frustration about the fact that it sort of keeps getting pushed back and delayed," he said. "And how we handle that if there is going to be another request for another delay is going to be, frankly, a headache for us this year."

Courtney's comments came in response to an audience member's question about what Navy programs gave him cause for concern. The subcommittee chairmanships for the House Armed Services Committee have not been finalized yet, but given Courtney’s 12-year history on the panel and his previous status as ranking member, he is a likely candidate to lead the subcommittee.

The service had previously intended to publish a request for proposals in 2017, but delayed its schedule after determining the capabilities originally planned for FFG(X) were insufficient, Inside the Navy reported in July 2017.

"What motivated this frankly [is that] the CNO's staff went through a force-structure assessment and took a look at the future world, the world that we will be operating in, and determined that while the frigate that came out of the 2014 study, its multimission capabilities are right, we need more," then acting Navy Secretary Sean Stackley said during the U.S. Naval Institute's annual meeting in Washington in 2017. "We need more in terms of capabilities."

That RFP is now scheduled for the end of this fiscal year with a construction contract expected in FY-20.