Navy not ruling out splitting FFG(X) production between multiple shipyards

The Navy is not ruling out the possibility of splitting the award for production of 20 next-generation frigates between two or more shipbuilders, according to the service's top civilian.

Sen. Angus King (I-ME) asked Navy Secretary Richard Spencer today about the possibility of splitting the production of the service's new frigate during a joint hearing of the Senate Armed Services seapower and readiness and management support subcommittees.

Spencer said the idea is "not off the table" and that the service must balance two competing factors. On one hand, splitting the program, which will produce at least 20 ships, would be positive for maintaining the industrial base's labor force.

But the Navy also must consider the flow of new vessels into the fleet.

"What we want to avoid is a spike," Spencer said. "When [those ships] all go through regular maintenance cycles and every one comes due within two or three or four years, it gets very crowded."

The Navy expects to publish a request for proposals for its new frigate in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2019, and a contract award is slated for FY-20. While the service has issued conceptual design contracts to five shipbuilders, the service plans to hold a full-and-open competition.