Above is a Huntington Ingalls video about Frigate variations of the National Security Cutter. The video is now eleven years old.
“Navy Secretary John Phelan recently told attendees at a private dinner that the new frigate would be a modified National Security Cutter, sources told Breaking Defense.”
Apparently this may not be a done deal yet, but sounds likely. Huntington Ingalls may even be able to use parts of cancelled NSC#11 to speed the process.
Chuck Hill's CG Blog 
Well, many have pined for this for years: a naval variant of the NSC. Rumor has it that the new Taiwanese Frigate is based on the NSC hull form. If that’s the case, then propulsion and other systems are current, allowing a baseline for further development for the Navy’s needs. Maybe the Navy was smart and basically had Taiwan pay the development costs for what they would eventually use. No. I can’t use smart and our modern Navy in the same sentence.
OK. Keep the 57mm, add a 32-cell Mk41 VLS, keep the SeaRAM, add 2-25 or preferably 30mm Mk38 Mod4s, add the towed array and VDS from the Constellation class, add a hull-mounted sonar, and 2 twin torpedo tubes.
Incorporate the smaller Aegis panels of the Constellation or add the rotating version if there’s too much topweight. Add ESM/ECM as needed. Done.
But I’m not holding my breath for 2028.
A good list. Mostly just upgrading what is already installed.
I suspect 32 vls would require a hull modification. I hope they stick to the original requirement of 16 vls, which will fit in the existing hull.
Frigate=cheaper=success.
Future blocks can change or add as necessary.
The original plan was 12 Mk 56 which could provide 24 ESSMs, but the Videos suggest eight Mk41 would fit with no other changes. Eight Mk41s could support four ASROC and 16 ESSMs. If it really needed more VLS I would not mind sacrificing the 57mm to have more VLS assuming we find room for one or more 30mm Mk38 mod4s. I would also like to see SEARAM replace the Phalanx.
The 16 vls was the navy’s original requirement. That is probably a requirement to allow the frigate to perform war time escort.
Naval war collage looked at this years ago and found 16vls would fit in the existing space. If I’m not mistaken HII said it would fit.
Upgrade existing systems. Add the asw and it’s a pretty decent frigate. The biggest change might be fitting the spy-6. Later blocks can upgrade to fully use the hull length.
Can you find any of the many Taiwan frigate models based on the NSC? I can’t. The most recent are clearly mini-Connies. We also know Gibbs & ox designed it, they say so. NSC was designed by Northrop Grumman -> Now HII in house. Says so right at the start of the video.
Agreed! If only the Navy had chosen this 11 years ago, they’d have several in service by now.
I agree.
Think about all the time, money and effort the Navy put into trying to get something useful out of LCS.
If the Navy put half of that into NSC ten years ago, we’d be in a much better place.
The Navy will protest but Phelan will jam it down their throats.
The Navy seemingly wants a mini-Burke and were determined to turn FFGX into one.
The Navy, after FFGX, LCS and Zumwalt, is losing optionality with the frigate and LSM.
That’s what got us into this mess in the first place. The US Navy was so drug addicted into the Burke that they wanted to turn any ship into a Burke Shooter. On top of that, the forgot what a Frigate is really ment to do.
Just look at HIIs stock price from Saturday through yesterday. No insider trading at work there…..
I agree. Phelan should not have said what he said in that forum.
This whole episode is ridiculous. The NSC frigate that will be developed for the Navy will absolutely not arrive until 2030 at the earliest. It will once again be modified and it won’t be as capable as the Constellation class.
I’ve pushed this idea hard for years now. Damn right, we need to grab that battle-tested NSC design from the Coast Guard and beef it up into a solid patrol frigate. The National Security Cutter has proven itself time and again since the first one hit the water back in 2008. These ships handle rough seas, chase down smugglers, and support big ops without breaking a sweat.
Take the Stratton or the Waesche—they’ve logged thousands of patrol days in the Pacific and Atlantic, busting drug runners and aiding disaster relief. Stats show NSCs boast over 95% availability rates, way better than some newer Navy hulls that sit in dry dock. We’ve got the yards, the know-how, and the parts chain ready to scale this up.
Why mess around with untested foreign bids or bloated programs? The Navy faces real threats from speedy boats and subs in tight waters. An up-gunned NSC—slap on better missiles, radars, and VLS cells—turns it into the perfect frigate for escort duties, anti-piracy, and forward presence. No need to reinvent the wheel.
It’s past time the brass wakes up and commits. Build these in U.S. yards, cut costs, and get ships sailing fast. We’ve seen the NSC work magic for the Coast Guard. Now let the Navy join the party and arm it right.
This could be a very fortuitous circumstance because the militarization of the USCG NSC must be developed and proved anyway. An MFTA, Mk38 Mod-4s (2), Surface-to-surface missile installation, ASROC and perhaps Mk48 VLS for ESSMs. Addition of a RADA fixed-array faced MHR radar for fire control is needed for drone defense and short range engagements.
It might be a route to more combat ready additional Coast Guard NSCs as well. We could build both OPCs and NSCs since we need to accelerate shipbuilding to mitigate late start and repeated delays.
I bet it could hold the new Surface-to-Surface Missile Module (SSMM) for the Longbow Hellfire (AGM-114L).
It’s hard to say how capable Constellation is because it doesn’t exist.
The last I heard it was expected to be seriously overweight, top heavy and too slow to perform intended missions.
It still needs more redesign before construction can begin.
The U.S. Navy’s acquisition process is so broken that they keep making the same mistakes over and over again and will continue to do so. I’m imagining the headlines 10 years from now will be very much like the headlines earlier this month about the Constellation Class. Here’s how the the future headline will read:
December, 2035: “Navy Cancels Yet Another Frigate Program, the National Security Cutter Frigate [or whatever the Navy decides to call it], after More Years of Delays, More Cost Overruns, and More Unplanned Weight Growth due to Constant Modifications and Mission Creep!”