GAO: Design instability has stalled Constellation-class frigate construction

Written by Nick Blenkey
GAO report looks at MARAD staff shortages

Image: GAO

In a report prepared for the House Committee on Armed Services, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says that the Navy’s lead Constellation class guided missile class frigate is forecast to be delivered 36 month’s later than initially planned. The agency sees design instability is a leading issue.

GAO notes that, over at least two decades, the Constellation class program plans to acquire and deliver up to 20 frigates,at a combined cost of over $22 billion. To reduce technical risk, the Navy and its shipbuilder modified an existing design to incorporate Navy specifications and weapon systems.

In a report that has many echoes of previous GAO reports on both Navy and Coast Guard shipbuilding programs, the watchdog agency says that the Navy’s decision to begin construction before the design was complete is inconsistent with leading ship design practices and jeopardized this approach.

Further, design instability has caused weight growth. The figure shows the frigate’s 3D design—a component of design stability—as incomplete over one year after construction began.

design instability aread
Lead frigate 3d modeling progress by grand module, as of October 2023

Delays in completing the ship design have created mounting construction delays. The Navy acknowledges that the April 2026 delivery date, set in the contract at award, is unachievable. The lead frigate is forecasted to be delivered 36 months later than initially planned.

The Navy program office tracks and reports design progress, but, says GEO, its design stability metric hinges largely on the quantity—rather than quality—of completed design documents. This limits insight into whether the program’s schedule is achievable.

If the Navy begins construction on the second frigate without improving this metric, warns GAO, it risks repeating the same errors that resulted in construction disruptions and delays with the lead frigate.

The frigate is using many mission systems already proven on Navy ships. However, the Navy has yet to demonstrate two systems—the propulsion and machinery control systems. A planned update to the frigate test plan—combined with the opportunity afforded by schedule delays—could offer the Navy the chance to conduct land-based testing of these two unproven systems. This testing would reduce the risk of discovering issues after the ship is at sea.

The frigate is using a traditional, linear development approach for design and construction. The Navy has historically experienced schedule delays, cost growth, or both in prior shipbuilding programs using this approach. The Navy has incorporated elements of leading practices into its acquisition strategy. However, further incorporating these practices in an updated acquisition strategy could position the program, when contracting for future frigates, to better respond to evolving mission needs.

GAO RECOMMENDATIONS

To address the design instability issue, GAO is making five recommendations, including that the Navy restructure its design stability metric to measure progress based more on the quality than quantity of design documents; use the improved metric to assess the design stability before beginning construction of the second frigate; incorporate additional land-based testing into the frigate test plan; and identify opportunities to further incorporate leading practices for product development into the frigate acquisition strategy. The Navy agreed with four recommendations and partially agreed with the recommendation related to updating the test plan. GAO maintains that all five recommendations should be fully implemented

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