The Government of the United States has awarded a contract to the United States shipyard General Dynamics Bath Iron Works (GDBIW), supported by the Spanish ship designer and shipyard Navantia, for a conceptual design for the FFG(X) program. The FFG(X) Program is considering the acquisition of 20 frigates with construction in the United States.
The GDBIW and Navantia will use as a reference design the Australian variant of the F-100 frigate and adapt it to the requirements of the U.S. Navy. The F – 100 ‘Alvaro de Bazán’ frigate is the only ship of its type that has a proven track record of being built in different shipyards in different countries. There are currently 11 units of the F-100 frigate in-service, including its variants the Australian AWD Hobart class and the Norwegian F310 Fridtjof Nansen class, with an expected total of 13 units operating in 2019.
The Concept Design contract will have a duration of 16 months, ending in mid-2019 when the team will respond to a RFQ for the Detailed Design and Construction contract of the ships, planned to be awarded in 2020.
In order to ensure the program runs to cost and schedule, the U.S. Navy requires designs that are based on a parent-design already in service. Navantia’s expertise in frigate design and its successful track record of global exports made the partnership a natural one for GDBIW. Navantia has proven itself as a valuable partner to GDBIW over forty years, where we have worked together on the Spanish Oliver Hazard Perry/Santa María FFG, the AFCON corvette project, and the Australian Hobart Class.“It is a great honour for Navantia to be able to work with Bath Iron Works again, offering our design capabilities to the United States.” said José Esteban Garcia Vilasanchez, President of Navantia.
Navantia is also supporting the U.S. Navy in maintaining the forward-deployed DDGs which provide Europe’s Ballistic Missile Defense at Rota, Spain. The contract signed in 2013 is being successfully executed to the complete satisfaction of the U.S. Navy and Navantia is pleased in having the opportunity of showing its capabilities and commitment to support the U.S. Navy ships overseas.
With bids based on the F-100/Hobart Class already submitted for the Australian SEA-5000 Future Frigate program and the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) program, Navantia can offer seamless commonality between these important allies and U.S. five-eyes partners.
With this contract award for the FFG(X) program, together with the Australian SEA-5000 and the Canadian Surface Combatant programs, makes Navantia with its F-100 variants the only company that is competing in these three major frigate programs.
