
The U.S. Navy awarded five $15 million conceptual design (CD) contracts for the new guided missile frigate (FFG(X) program today: Austal USA, Huntington Ingalls Industreis [HII], Lockheed Martin [LMT], Fincantieri’s Marinette Marine, and General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works [GD].The CD awards are intended to reduce the program risk by allowing industry to mature designs more quickly to meet Navy-directed capability requirements.The CD phase lasts 16 months, ending in June 2019, which aims to facilitate maturing the various designs and help…