The US plans to acquire foreign frigate building experience for its Navy — USNI News
The White House and the US Navy are studying frigate designs from three countries:
export version of the Mogami-class frigate FFM from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan);
Istanbul-class frigate from Turkish shipyards.
Interest in the Turkish project arose after Erdogan's conversation with Trump at the NATO summit in July.
The initiative envisages the possibility of building a maximum of two ships at foreign shipyards, with a subsequent transition to domestic ones—this would break with more than a century-old tradition of building the US fleet.
The plan is based on the so-called "Finnish model": first, construction of the first two hulls at a foreign shipyard, then investment in US shipbuilding infrastructure, and ultimately the transition to American shipyards.
The deadline for consideration of foreign projects is November 12, 2026.
The Trump administration is seeking to rapidly expand the navy, but the US government is in disarray and uncertainty over the construction of frigates in foreign shipyards.
For example, OMB (Office of Management and Budget) Director Russ Vaught publicly supports the "Finnish model" and advocates for increased competition between American shipyards. Congress is attempting to limit the executive branch's powers. The Senate Armed Services Committee removed the "national security interests" provision that would allow ships to be built abroad.
The House Armed Services Committee has proposed an amendment that would prohibit funding for contracts to build American warships abroad.
The US military needs frigates to fill a gap in the US Navy's surface forces. According to Rear Admiral Brian Metcalf, deputy director of combatant acquisition, frigates will be able to perform missions in low-intensity conflicts, serve as escorts for high-value cargo, and allow Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to focus on complex missions.
Late last year, then-Navy Secretary John Phelan canceled the French-Italian Constellation (FFG-62) frigate program and launched the FFX program, a patrol frigate based on the Coast Guard ship National Security Cutter.
Meanwhile, work to prepare for production of the first FFX frigate has already begun at the HII Ingalls shipyard, but the contract has not yet been awarded.
The situation in American military shipbuilding has long resembled a production hell: there is a shortage of specialists (workers, technicians, engineers), domestic shipyards are worn out, construction deadlines for full-fledged guided missile destroyers exceed all standards, while Trump is focused on implementing the project of super-expensive super-battleships named after himself, which military experts have deemed a waste of money.
The US plans to acquire foreign frigate building experience for its Navy — USNI News