After the Constellation-Class: Lessons of the Navy’s Latest Shipbuilding Debacle

The recent cancellation of the U.S. Navy's Constellation-class frigate program, plagued by massive cost overruns and delays, exposes systemic failures in American naval shipbuilding. To prevent future debacles, corrective actions must go beyond reforms already in motion, such as compressing acquisition timelines. The Navy has consistently avoided obvious but critical fixes, like refusing to start construction before a design is mature and enforcing strict discipline against ever-expanding requirements. Ultimately, a true turnaround demands a fundamental rebuilding of the Navy's entire acquisition bureaucracy, as past remedies have clearly failed to regenerate the nation's sea power.