Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM) of Wisconsin laid the keel of the future US Navy guided-missile frigate USS Constellation in a ceremony on Friday, April 12.
Upon completion, the vessel will have a length of 496 feet (151.18 metres), a beam of 65 feet (19.81 metres), and a crew complement of 200. A combined diesel-electric and gas (CODLAG) propulsion arrangement consisting of GE LM2500 gas turbine and four MTU diesel generators will deliver a maximum speed of 26 knots.
The future Constellation will be the lead ship of a new class of frigates designed to operate independently or as part of a carrier/expeditionary strike group or a surface action group. They will be manned and equipped for navy composite warfare and joint maritime operations in both blue-water and littoral environments.
The ships will be capable of anti-air warfare, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare, electronic warfare, and information operations.
The Constellation-class frigates to be manufactured by FMM will be variants of the European Multi-Mission Frigates (Fregate Europeenne Multimissions; FREMM) designed and built jointly by French defence shipbuilder the Naval Group and Italy's Fincantieri for their respective countries' navies as well as export customers.