Navy designates new Marinette-built ships as ‘frigates’

The Secretary of the U.S. Navy said another change will be made to part of the littoral combat ship program: the designation of the ships.

Speaking to the Surface Navy Association in Virginia on Thursday, Ray Mabus said the ships will be called frigates.

“We are going to change the hull designation of the LCS class ships to FF (fcgate),” he said. “It will still be the same ship, the same program of record, just with an appropriate and traditional name.”

Marinette Marine Corp. has six of the vessels under construction for the prime contractor, Lockheed Martin. Two Wisconsin-built ships, USS Freedom and USS Fort Worth, are in active service in the Navy.

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