From focusing only on large warships, the US Navy's Constellation-class frigate is considered an important breakthrough in optimizing combat capabilities
The Constellation class is being developed as a class of multi-mission guided-missile frigates for the United States Navy
as a follow-on to the modular littoral combat ship
Helicopters, drones, over-the-horizon attack missiles, missile defense radar, and deck-mounted guns
are all key elements of the Navy’s vision for its emerging Constellation-class frigate
The new warship is intended to fill a mission gap between the lighter Littoral Combat Ship and more heavily-armed cruisers and destroyers
“The ships will perform surface warfare, electromagnetic warfare, and air warfare,”
said Capt. Kevin Smith, Frigate Program Manager at the 2022 Surface Navy Association Symposium
“In a lot of ways it is like a DDG, it just does not have all the magazine capacity"
"and does not have all the armament you would expect of a DDG. This is a frigate.”
At the same time, these frigates will be armed and combat-capable warships equipped with over-the-horizon Naval Strike Missiles
Rolling Airframe Missiles, and the Mk 110 57 millimeter gun
The ship will operate with one MH-60R SeaHawk helicopter and one drone
supported by Vertical Launch Systems and Variable Depth Sonar for submarine hunting
Smith described the frigate’s mission as a multi-purpose approach, meaning it can perform heavy, open-water missions
yet also fill critical mission gaps such as escort operations
. “It’s an agile, multi-mission platform and just like a DDG, it's going to be dual purpose"
"For things like escort missions for high value units, it is going to take a lot of the workload off of the DDGs and the Cruisers out there,” Smith said.
Missions to escort groups vulnerable surface ships passing through strategic waterways may not need the firepower of a destroyer
yet it will clearly need to be armed and ready for maritime warfare in the event of an attack
By performing these missions, frigates can free up cruisers and destroyers for heavier ocean war missions
The Constellation-class frigates are also being equipped with Aegis radar
a ballistic missile defense system combining sensitive radar for threat tracking with ship-integrated fire control and interceptor weapons
This includes air and cruise missile defense capability, meaning it can help destroy enemy helicopters
drones, fixed-wing aircraft, and incoming attack weapons such as anti-ship cruise missiles
The frigates will receive an Aegis-capable radar system now being integrated into Ford class carriers
called the Enterprise Air Surveillance radar, or A/N SPY 6 v3, a sensitive threat detection radar tailored to the frigate’s mission requirements
As part of the SPY 6 family of radars, EASR is a scaled or tailored system
meaning it does not need the range and sensitivity of SPY 6 v1 systems being built into Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers