The U.S. Navy has zero frigates in active service as of 2026. The last one, USS Simpson, was decommissioned on September 30, 2015, and every attempt to bring the ship type back has run into trouble. The most recent effort, the Constellation-class program, was largely cancelled in November 2025 after years of delays, and the Navy is now starting over with a new design called FF(X).
Why the Last Frigates Were Retired
The Oliver Hazard Perry class served as the Navy’s frigate workhorse for roughly 30 years. The service built 51 of them beginning in the late 1970s, originally as affordable convoy escorts during the Cold War. By the early 2000s the hulls were aging out, and the Navy decided against modernizing ships that couldn’t keep up with evolving missile threats. Starting in 2003, the remaining ships were even stripped of their guided-missile launchers to cut operating costs, leaving them without their primary offensive weapon.
USS Simpson (FFG-56) was the last one out, decommissioned at Naval Station Mayport in September 2015. That left the U.S. fleet without a single ship carrying the frigate designation for the first time in decades. Several allied navies still operate upgraded Perry-class hulls; the U.S. did not have a direct replacement ready.
What Fills the Role Now
The Littoral Combat Ship program was supposed to cover part of the gap. As of early 2026, the Navy retains about 28 LCS hulls after reversing earlier plans to decommission several ships early. Current mission packages cover two areas: Surface Warfare and Mine Countermeasures.1United States Navy. Littoral Combat Ship Class – LCS
The Anti-Submarine Warfare package, which would have been the most frigate-like mission, was cancelled in the fiscal year 2023 budget after cost overruns and technical problems. That cancellation matters because anti-submarine warfare was historically a frigate’s core job. Without it, the Navy leans on its much more expensive Arleigh Burke-class destroyers for submarine hunting.
The Constellation Class and Why It Collapsed
In April 2020, the Navy awarded a contract to Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Wisconsin to build the Constellation-class (FFG-62). The original plan called for 20 ships, with an initial contract covering 10 hulls.2Congressional Research Service. Navy Frigate FFG(X) Program – Background and Issues for Congress The design was based on the Italian variant of the Franco-Italian FREMM frigate, a proven European warship the Navy planned to adapt with American combat systems.
The adaptation turned into a near-complete redesign. The hull was lengthened by over 23 feet to fit larger generators. The bow was reworked to accommodate 32 vertical launch cells. Internal modifications to meet U.S. Navy standards added hundreds of tons of weight, and a design review found the hull wasn’t stiff enough, requiring structural reinforcement. What began as a ship sharing roughly 85 percent commonality with the FREMM parent design ended up below 15 percent.
By November 2025, the lead ship was only about 12 percent complete. The delivery date had slipped 33 months, from an original target of July 2026 to April 2029.3United States Navy. Constellation Class – FFG The Navy had already spent roughly $9 billion on the program.
On November 25, 2025, the Navy cancelled most of it. Under a negotiated agreement with Fincantieri, the shipyard will finish USS Constellation (FFG-62) and USS Congress (FFG-63), but the remaining four ships under contract were cancelled.3United States Navy. Constellation Class – FFG The two surviving hulls are meant largely to keep the shipyard workforce employed and preserve the industrial base while the Navy starts over. Both are still expected to deliver around 2029.
FF(X): The Navy’s New Plan
Rather than try to fix Constellation, the Navy is starting fresh with FF(X). The fiscal year 2026 defense appropriations bill included $242 million in long-lead funding for the first ships. Unlike Constellation, which was based on a European design, FF(X) will be built around the Coast Guard’s Legend-class National Security Cutter, an American hull already in production.
The Navy wants the first FF(X) in the water by 2028. HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division is expected to build the first ship, with a competition planned for future hulls. Congressional appropriators have said they expect the Navy to apply lessons from both the Constellation delays and the LCS program’s troubled history. Whether the 2028 target holds is an open question. American shipyards have struggled with capacity and workforce issues for years, and optimistic timelines for new warship programs have a poor track record.
What the Frigate Gap Means
The Navy’s stated requirement is 73 small surface combatants. With roughly 28 LCS in the fleet and only two Constellation-class ships eventually joining them, the FF(X) program will need to deliver dozens of hulls to close that gap.
In the meantime, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers absorb the work: escort duty, anti-submarine patrols, and presence missions a cheaper frigate could handle. Every destroyer assigned to convoy escort or independent patrol is one fewer destroyer available for carrier strike group defense or ballistic missile defense. Two frigates arriving around 2029, in a fleet of nearly 300 ships, won’t meaningfully change that math.