February 23, 2018
Handicapping the Navy’s Frigate Competition
The horses in a major new defense-acquisition program are approaching the starting gate, but it’s not too late to handicap the race and place bets on the eventual winner. The process is easier in this competition because, unlike recent previous major program buys, the Navy limited this competition to proven “mature” designs, to include submissions from foreign ship-builders so long as they partnered with an American shipyard. The net result is a competitive field made up of participants with established track records and approximate prices.
Last week the Navy announced the five finalists in its new guided-missile frigate competition.
Traditional American shipbuilders Huntington Ingalls Incorporated and General Dynamics made the cut, although General Dynamics made it into the competition by partnering with Spain’s Navantia and using its F-100 frigate design. Huntington Ingalls appears to have presented a design derived from its National Security Cutter, currently in production for the U.S. Coast Guard.
Read the full article in National Review.
More from CNAS
-
The Enduring Relevance of Reagan’s Westminster Speech
Commentary
Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series of three essays, commissioned by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, examining the legacy of Reagan’s Westmin...
By Richard Fontaine
-
Friday Roundtable
Podcast
On the Roundtable episode of the Defense & Aerospace Podcast, Robert F. Hale joins Todd Harrison, the director of defense budget analysis and the Aerospace Security Project at...
By Robert F. Hale
-
National Security Is Made of People
Commentary
For several years, members of Congress and senior defense officials have worried, dramatically and out loud, about the state of military readiness, devoting bipartisan harangu...
By Loren DeJonge Schulman
-
Small Satellites in the Emerging Space Environment
Reports
Steven Kosiak assesses the advantages and risks of widespread networks of smaller satellites versus consolidated networks of larger satellites....
By Steven Kosiak
