Navy announces new frigate class, taps HII to build off national security cutter
“Recent operations from the Red Sea to the Caribbean make the requirement undeniable,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle said.
“Recent operations from the Red Sea to the Caribbean make the requirement undeniable,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle said.
Navy Secretary John Phelan recently told attendees at a private dinner that the new frigate would be a modified National Security Cutter, sources told Breaking Defense.
"We’re deploying an AI-powered shipbuilding operating system across the maritime industrial base," Navy Secretary John Phelan told an audience alongside Palantir chief Alex Karp.
“We will competitively award a vessel construction manager to oversee the [program], drive execution and facilitate genuine competition among multiple shipyards,” Navy Secretary John Phelan said.
Establishing the RCO is one in a series of moves the Navy has made this year, alongside the other services, to overhaul acquisition offices and processes as part of a larger revamp being pushed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
A number of other top civilian positions in the Navy's civilian leadership remain filled by acting officials.
The new chief of Naval policy will wholly replace what was the deputy undersecretary of the Navy for policy.
John Phelan's memo follows a number of moves by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as well as Army leadership to reduce and consolidate the number of sprawling offices and staffs throughout the Department of Defense.
“The NRCO will serve as the single accountable organization spanning all naval warfare domains, responsible for the rapid assessment, execution, fielding and transition of urgent solutions within a three-year timeframe to ensure U.S. maritime supremacy,” according to a memo signed by John Phelan.
The legislation comes as the White House has slashed headcount at virtually every agency across the federal government.
The nominations follows Adm. Lisa Franchetti's removal from her post as the 33rd CNO more than two years earlier than planned.
“I have more ships than our shipyards can handle for the next 10 years, whether it’s a destroyer, whether it’s a tanker, whether it’s an oiler, whether it’s a submarine. So, I am not worried about the demand signal we have,” Navy Secretary John Phelan told House lawmakers.
Secretary of the Navy John Phelan manages the readiness, development, and well-being of nearly one million Sailors, Marines, and civilian personnel within the Department of the Navy.
“We’ve embraced the DOGE agency to come in basically to help us figure out processes and things that we’re doing that don’t make sense,” Navy Secretary John Phelan said.