(Another) U.S. Shipbuilding Disaster - The Constellation Class & U.S. Fleet Modernisation

Quick Overview

The U.S. Navy cancelled the Constellation class frigate program, reducing the order to only the two ships already under construction, because the program severely deviated from its base design, suffered cost blowouts, and mounted delays, ultimately failing to reverse the trend of expensive, under-delivered combat ship programs like the Zumwalt and LCS classes.

Key Points: The US Navy announced the cancellation of all but two Constellation class frigates in November, due to cost blowouts and delays after the design morphed significantly from the base model. The Constellation program intended to use a proven international frigate design (the FREMM) to achieve affordability and high numbers, aiming for 85% commonality which reportedly dropped to about 15%. The initial plan for the Constellation class required integrating US systems and requirements, leading to extensive redesigns, including lengthening the hull by nearly 24 ft and increasing displacement by over 700 metric tons (a roughly 13% increase). Construction of the first ship began in August 2022 even though the functional design was only 88% complete and the design was not stable, leading to further issues like cost increases and delivery slips from 2026 to at least 2029. Metrics used to track design progress were flawed, as the Navy counted submitted contract deliverables (CDRLs) as 50-75% complete upon submission without quality review, artificially inflating the appearance of design stability. The program's failure mirrors prior modernization efforts like the Zumwalt class, which resulted in only three ships for over $22 billion, and the LCS program, which also saw significant cuts due to performance shortfalls.

Context: The video analyzes the US Navy's ongoing struggles with modernizing its surface combatant fleet, contrasting the current situation with the massive, technologically diverse force the Navy maintained at the end of the Cold War, peaking at 592 active battle force ships in 1989. Following the Soviet collapse, the Navy faced the difficult task of replacing aging Cold War-era hulls—many lacking modern systems like Aegis and VLS—with new designs under shrinking budgets, leading to a series of ambitious but ultimately flawed replacement programs.