In a widely anticipated move in November 2025, the U.S. Navy cancelled its long-delayed Constellation-class frigate after just two hulls had been paid for. To replace the other 18 planned Constellations, the Navy announced it would acquire a new frigate design based on the U.S. Coast Guard’s Legend-class cutter.
The cancellation came 20 months after a survey of U.S. shipbuilding programs found that the lead Constellation, still under construction by Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Wisconsin, was overweight by 700 tons owing to design changes—and was also running three years behind schedule. Constellation wasn’t expected to deliver to the fleet until 2029.
The Constellation’s demise raised an urgent question: what would replace it? The Navy’s requirement for small surface combatants endures, even as the Constellation followed the equally troubled Littoral Combat Ship program into virtual oblivion.
