The US Navy has awarded Lockheed Martin a $15 million contract to mature its Freedom-variant Frigate design as a part of the Navy's FFG(X) competition.
Lockheed Martin submitted its Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) parent design in response to the US Navy's FFG(X) conceptual design solicitation with Fincantieri Marinette Marine as its shipbuilder and Gibbs & Cox as its naval architect.
"We are proud of our 15-year partnership with the U.S. Navy on the Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship and look forward to extending it to FFG(X)," said Joe DePietro, Lockheed Martin vice president of small combatants and ship systems. "Built to US Navy shipbuilding standards, our frigate design offers an affordable, low-risk answer to meeting the Navy's goals of a larger and more capable fleet."
The Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine team is currently in full-rate production of the Freedom-variant of the LCS, and has delivered five ships to the US Navy to date. There are eight ships in various stages of construction at Fincantieri Marinette Marine, with one more in long-lead production.
Demonstrating the Freedom-variant LCS design flexibility and ability to integrate increased capabilities, the Royal Saudi Naval Forces selected an LCS derivative, the Multi-Mission Surface Combatant, to fulfill its small combatant requirement. This is the first sale in over three decades of a U.S.-built surface combatant to a foreign partner nation.