The US Navy has awarded HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division a $283m contract for FF(X) frigate lead yard support activities.
Ingalls Shipbuilding will use the contract to procure long lead time material, carry out design work, and start pre-construction works for the first ship.
The shipyard will begin cutting and shaping raw material to support later work on the main structure foundation and the construction sequencing plan for the first frigate.
HII said the approach aims to create a transition from design to production at Ingalls Shipbuilding and across the industrial base.
The new frigates will be built alongside production lines that support DDG 51 Flight III destroyers, LHA assault ships, LPD Flight II amphibious transport docks, and modernisation work on Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyers.
Ingalls Shipbuilding president Brian Blanchette said: ““We are proud of our past performance in engineering, design and production of warships that meet US military standards, a performance that gave the Navy confidence to select the national security cutter as the basis for the next small surface combatant and to choose Ingalls as the programme’s lead yard.”
The contract for lead yard support comes after the US Navy selected Ingalls Shipbuilding in December 2025 to design and build the future FF(X), which is based on the design of the Legend-class national security cutter (NSC).
The selection followed the US Secretary of the Navy’s cancellation of the Constellation-class frigate programme in November 2025, as naval procurement shifted towards smaller, potentially uncrewed, platforms.
The Legend-class NSC measures 418ft in length, with a beam of 54ft and a draft of 22ft. It has a full load displacement of 4,500 tonnes and can accommodate a crew of 120.
By comparison, the Constellation-class frigate measures 496.1ft in length and has a beam of 64.6ft.
The NSC platform can also launch and recover small boats, helicopters, and uncrewed aerial vehicles in higher sea states.
The Ingalls division previously delivered 10 NSCs to the US Coast Guard and will use the same build sequence for the FF(X) programme.
