The U.S. Navy says the first production group of its new FF(X) frigates will deploy without a built-in Vertical Launch System. The service confirmed that point on Dec. 22, 2025, after releasing early renderings that showed no obvious VLS on the bow. The decision sets the first “flight” of the program on a lighter, faster-to-build armament baseline than the guided-missile frigate effort the Navy just cut short.
FF(X) frigate Flight I armament package without Mk 41 Vertical Launch System
A Navy spokesperson said the first flight will carry a 57mm gun, two 30mm guns, a Mk 49 Rolling Airframe Missile launcher, plus countermeasures and aviation facilities for crewed and uncrewed aircraft. The same statement described a flexible weapons station aft of the flight deck that can take containerized payloads, including counter-drone systems and missiles. The ship is built in “flights,” and the Navy says later flights will add capability as the design matures.
The service is selling speed and production stability as the reason to hold back major combat-system changes early. A second Navy official said the aim is hulls in the water quickly, with minimal design changes in the initial flight. That line tracks with how the Navy announced FF(X) three days earlier, when leadership described a baseline design and production approach meant to reduce schedule and technical risk.
FF(X) also starts life in the shadow of the Constellation-class, which was built around an integrated missile battery and higher-end sensors. Constellation’s planned Mk 41 launcher count drove years of debate on magazine depth and the broader question of how much escort capacity the Navy can afford per hull. The Navy ended most of that program in late November, with two ships continuing under construction.
A VLS-free first flight does not remove missiles from the ship. It changes how the ship stores them, and how it reloads them. An embedded launcher gives a ship a protected, permanent magazine under the deck. It also supports rapid salvos with less deck exposure. Those are the baseline reasons most modern frigates carry some kind of vertical battery.
The Navy did not publish a public weapons integration schedule for later flights. It did not publish a “minimum VLS” requirement either. The only firm point, as of Dec. 22, is the first flight configuration, plus the promise of reserved space for later upgrades.
Containerized Mk 70 Payload Delivery System and flexible stern weapons station
The Navy’s plan leans hard on containerized launchers as a fast way to add missiles without redesigning the bow. The service has already tested a container launcher at sea on a Littoral Combat Ship. In October 2023, USS Savannah fired a Standard Missile 6 from a containerized launching system placed on the ship’s flight deck during a live-fire event in the Eastern Pacific.
That test matters for FF(X) because it shows the Navy can move meaningful missiles onto a ship that was not built around a permanent VLS farm. Reporting on the same event described the launcher as the Mk 70, derived from the Mk 41 family, and noted the Mk 70 can also fire Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles.
Container launchers still bring constraints that an embedded VLS avoids. Deck space becomes a hard limit. So does topweight, blast management, and safe arcs around aviation operations. A ship that needs its flight deck for helicopter cycles cannot treat that area like a permanent missile pad. The Navy’s own description of FF(X) tries to solve that friction by placing the flexible payload station aft of the flight deck, not on it, with the expectation that aviation and payload operations can coexist.
The container approach also changes the reload story. VLS reload at sea is a long-running Navy problem, and the service has been experimenting with it. NAVSEA publicized a first at-sea reload demonstration for a Mk 41 launcher in 2024, underscoring the service’s interest in keeping magazines topped up away from port. Container payloads do not remove that broader issue, but they can shift the handling steps and the locations where reload becomes possible.
A container launcher can also broaden the number of platforms that can accept missiles with fewer shipyard changes. That supports the Navy’s push for modular payloads across multiple ship types. It also fits the language the Navy used when it announced FF(X), calling the ship “highly adaptable” and tying the program to modular payload carriage.
Uncrewed surface vessels plan and “mothership” role for FF(X) frigates
The Navy spokesperson also described FF(X) as a command ship for groups of unmanned vessels, with tailored “force packages” based on the weapons and sensors carried by those platforms. That concept treats the frigate as the control node and the manned endurance platform, with distributed sensors and magazines spread across uncrewed craft.
That framing helps explain why the Navy is willing to accept a lighter integrated missile battery early. A frigate that expects to fight as part of a wider family of platforms can accept a different onboard loadout than a ship meant to operate alone. It can lean on other nodes for sensing, targeting, and even weapon carriage. The Navy also used similar language in the public rollout of the class, linking FF(X) to unmanned systems operations as a core feature, not a bolt-on.
The mothership idea also shows up in how the Navy talks about modular payloads. Modular can mean containerized launchers. It can also mean counter-drone packages, electronic warfare additions, or mission equipment that rotates with tasking. The service did not say which payloads will be standard for deployment. It did say the aft station is meant to accept different loads.
The biggest operational question is how fast those tailored packages can move and integrate. A container with missiles still needs targeting data, rules of engagement integration, safety certification, and a trained crew. The same goes for unmanned teammates that carry sensors or weapons. The Navy is building toward that ecosystem, but the early FF(X) flight will arrive before the unmanned surface fleet reaches scale.
Even so, the Navy has incentives to push this way. The service wants more small surface combatants, and it wants them sooner. It also wants options that do not force another long redesign cycle like the one that helped derail Constellation. A stable baseline, plus modular additions, is the bet.
What no VLS means for FF(X) missions, self-defense, and future flight upgrades
A first-flight armament built around a 57mm gun and a RAM launcher points to a self-defense posture, not a deep magazine for area air defense. RAM is designed to defeat incoming threats at close range, and the Navy’s fact file describes it as a self-defense system against cruise missiles and other threats. That is a different role than a ship with a large vertical battery for layered defense.
The Navy can still add punch through deck launchers. Renderings released with the FF(X) announcement show angled launchers aft that look consistent with Naval Strike Missile canisters. NSM is already in the fleet. In 2021, the Navy announced USS Gabrielle Giffords successfully launched an NSM during operational testing and evaluation. That provides a straightforward path for FF(X) to carry anti-ship missiles without touching the bow.
The harder piece is the broad missile mix a VLS normally supports. A vertical battery can carry different interceptors, land-attack missiles, and anti-submarine rockets in a protected magazine. A container launcher can carry some of that, but in fewer cells, with more visible deck handling. It also competes with other payload needs on the same station.
The Navy is trying to keep options open with the “flights” approach. Officials point to the destroyer program as the model, with upgrades phased into later builds rather than loaded into the first hulls. The shipbuilder echoed that posture and said design changes are still being finalized, with the Navy intent focused on minimizing changes to speed procurement.
Congress will likely scrutinize what “space reservations” really buy. A ship can reserve volume and power margins, yet still face expensive rework if it later needs a large deck cut for an embedded launcher. A frigate hull based on a cutter can support upgrades, but it also has limits in stability and internal arrangement that do not exist on a clean-sheet combatant.
A second question is how the Navy will define the ship’s escort role early. A light first-flight magazine does not prevent the ship from operating with a carrier strike group or surface action group. It does increase reliance on other ships for layered air defense when the threat includes larger salvos. The Navy has not released a public concept-of-employment document that spells out those boundaries.
The decision also ties back to the procurement shock of late 2025. The Navy ended most Constellation buys on Nov. 25, with the shipbuilder issuing its own statement about reshaping work and keeping the partnership intact. Less than a month later, the Navy announced FF(X), then clarified the first flight armament baseline on Dec. 22. That pace signals urgency on fleet numbers and build cadence.
Our analysis shows the Navy is accepting a thinner integrated missile battery in exchange for a fast-start design and a modular weapons path that can scale as payload systems and unmanned teammates mature. That trade will define how FF(X) is judged once the first hulls reach the fleet.
REFERENCE SOURCES
- https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/Press-Releases/display-pressreleases/Article/4364538/navy-announces-new-small-surface-combatant/
- https://www.twz.com/sea/navys-new-frigate-will-not-have-vertical-launch-systems-for-missiles
- https://www.fincantieri.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2025/Fincantieri-Marine-Group-to-reshape-the-Constellation-Class-program-to-better-support-evolving-needs-of-the-US-Navy-strengthening-strategic-partnership
- https://www.iiss.org/online-analysis/military-balance/2025/12/constellation-consternation-frigate-decision-sets-us-navy-on-uncertain-new-course/
- https://www.surfpac.navy.mil/Media/News/Article/3567796/uss-savannah-successfully-completes-live-fire-demonstration/
- https://news.usni.org/2023/10/25/littoral-combat-ship-fires-a-standard-missile-6-from-experimental-launcher
- https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Media/News/Article/3935575/navy-demonstrates-first-at-sea-reloading-of-vertical-launching-system/
- https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/Article/2555131/uss-gabrielle-giffords-successfully-launches-naval-strike-missile/
- https://www.navy.mil/Resources/Fact-Files/Display-FactFiles/Article/2168961/rim-116-rolling-airframe-missile-ram/
