The Navy has awarded HII's Ingalls Shipbuilding $283 million to perform lead yard support for the new FF(X) frigate, the company announced today.

The contract will go toward long-lead-time material, design work and pre-construction activities for the first ship.

Ingalls Shipbuilding plans to begin cutting and shaping raw material soon for future work on the main frigate structure.

In December, the Navy announced Ingalls would design and build the FF(X), basing it off the HII-built Legend-class National Security Cutter already in use by the Coast Guard.

According to Navy fiscal year 2027 budget documents, one frigate will be procured in FY-27 for $1.4 billion. Completion of critical design review for the lead ship is scheduled for May 2026.

“The lead yard support contract will complete design work for production, procure long-lead material including pre-production efforts to enable rapid transition to construction,” budget documents state. “Sole-source construction contracts will then follow for the first two ships.”

According to budget documents, the Navy plans to procure a second ship in FY-29, and two more in FY-31 -- 22 frigates for a total of over $36 billion across the entire program. However, the Navy has stated its intent to buy 50 to 65 frigates in total, as part of the “Golden Fleet” concept, according to Naval Sea Systems Command Executive Director Chris Miller.

“We are proud of our past performance in engineering, design and production of warships that meet U.S. military standards, a performance that gave the Navy confidence to select the national security cutter as the basis for the next small surface combatant and to choose Ingalls as the program’s lead yard,” Brian Blanchette, Ingalls Shipbuilding president, said in a statement. “We are excited to partner with the Navy to bring these preproduction steps under contract to accelerate delivery of the frigates that our warfighters need.”

The new frigate will be a “low-end workhorse” designed to perform simple missions and ease strain on Arleigh-Burke class destroyers and warships. The ships will focus on surface warfare, including offensive surface strike, maritime interdiction and escort support and command and control for unmanned systems.

In a social media post today, the Navy’s PAE Maritime said today’s contract is an example of accelerating delivery of “needed programs.” President Trump has called for the lead FF(X) hull to be launched by 2028.

“By using a lead yard support approach, Ingalls will deliver the U.S. Navy a ‘build-ready’ design that will enable a smooth transition to production as we work over the coming years to scale this program across the industrial base,” the office stated.