As it stands, the US Navy has 291 battle-force ships. China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has more than 370, not counting about 60 Houbei-class missile patrol craft. The Congressional Research Service and the Pentagon have long described the PLAN as the world’s largest navy by hull count. It is still growing. Official assessments have projected roughly 395 ships in the near term and 435 by 2030. Until now, quality and capability have offset the numbers gap. There comes a point, however, when “better is better” gives way to “more is better.” That is the problem the Navy’s Golden Fleet is meant to address.
The Golden Fleet is to include a new class of frigates and a Trump-class battleship. The frigates —designated FF(X) — are intended to be built at scale and close the PLAN numbers problem. The Wall Street Journal reported: “The U.S. Navy will commission a new class of frigates, the first in a series of warships that will make up President Trump’s envisioned ‘Golden Fleet’ … The new ship will be based on the Coast Guard’s Legend-class National Security Cutter, which Ingalls builds in Pascagoula, Miss., and will replace the Constellation-class frigate that the Navy canceled last month after years of delays.” An aside worth noting: Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII/Ingalls) earlier offered a National Security Cutter derivative, the Patriot Frigate, in the FFG(X) source selection competition won by Fincantieri.
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A January 2026 Congressional Research Service report said the Navy “envisages building a notional total of 50 to 65 FF(X)s.” The lead ship is planned as a sole-source award to HII/Ingalls, with the first hull to be launched in 2028 and later ships opened to competition at additional yards. CRS and the Navy quoted then-Secretary of the Navy John Phelan on the purpose of the program: “Our goal is clear: launch the first hull in the water in 2028. To expand capacity and production across our maritime industrial base, we will acquire these ships using a lead yard, and competitive follow-on strategy for multi-yard construction. Shipyards will be measured against one outcome: delivering combat power to the Fleet as fast as possible.” The FY2027 president’s budget request funds one FF(X) in 2027, one in 2029, and two in 2031.
The FF(X), with a displacement estimated to be 4,750 tons, is anticipated to be equipped with a point-defense anti-air warfare system rather than an area-defense system. This capability will provide anti-air defense closer to the accompanying fleet. Other capability will be provided by “containerized mission packages … For example, the Army and Lockheed Martin developed the MK-70 vertical launch system with the dimensions of a 40-foot shipping container.” In parallel, the Navy is developing containerized modular systems that “can be swapped from ship to ship.” Again, it’s interesting to note that a similar modular approach was adopted for the Littoral Combat Ship that was also canceled short of its initially planned production run.
When it became clear that the Constellation-class frigate could not recover schedule and cost, a different course was required. That does not make the substitute risk-free. In “The U.S. Navy Must Build the ‘Golden Fleet,’” the Heritage Foundation warned: “Even the straightforward idea of repurposing a Coast Guard cutter no longer in production for the Navy as a frigate comes with significant risk. Modifications will be required for carrying munitions like torpedoes, expanded berthing for air crew, and to employ sonar for submarine detection.” The Navy has awarded HII/Ingalls $282.9 million for initial lead-yard work on the FF(X).
The FY2027 request allocates about $1.43 billion for the first production ship against a full-up cost of about $1.67 billion. If history is a guide, those figures will rise. The Navy’s record of delivering ships on cost, on schedule, and to specification is poor. Using a hull already built in series is the bet that cost growth can be contained. Completing a 50-to-65-ship class without fits and starts is the larger test. Without that discipline, the Golden Fleet will not keep pace with China.
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The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliate.
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