Congress Cuts Frigate and Landing Ship Programs to Fund Extra Destroyer

A brand new Arleigh Burke-class destroyer launched at Bath Iron Works (USN file image)

Published Mar 11, 2025 8:14 PM by The Maritime Executive

The House Republican caucus plans to pass a continuing resolution (CR) rather than a budget to cover the remainder of the fiscal year, a procedural option that keeps federal spending at constant levels and avoids a difficult fight over spending priorities. Overall, the proposed CR would raise defense spending by $6 billion year-on-year, roughly $16 billion below the amount needed to keep up with current levels of inflation.

The U.S. Navy has historically disliked CRs because they disrupt long-term shipbuilding and maintenance plans, which rely on a steady increase in funding levels. This one is different: it also adjusts several important line items, including an apparent cut in funding for the delayed Constellation-class frigate program.

The proposed CR sets a budget of $233 million for the Constellation-class for FY2025, a fraction of the $1.2 billion that the Navy requested this year. (The CR also includes five cost-to-complete adjustments for the frigate totaling $400 million, which will cover prior-year shipbuilding cost increases from FY2020-24.)

Also on the list of cuts is the Landing Ship Medium, a key priority for the Marine Corps and a frequent point of friction for the Navy. The line item for this intratheater transport ship has been reduced to just $30 million, down from a requested amount of $268 million.

The CR also boosts funding for destroyer construction by an unrequested $1.5 billion. The Navy typically buys two destroyers a year from GD Bath Iron Works in Maine and HII Ingalls Shipbuilding in Mississippi, and its long-term shipbuilding plan calls for orders of just under two per year through 2050.

In the past, defense officials have expressed skepticism about whether the two yards could follow through if given an order for a third destroyer a year. "We don’t see the yards being able to produce three a year. We don’t see them being able to produce two a year. And that’s just data," Pentagon comptroller Mike McCord told USNI in 2024. "Everybody’s struggling with skilled labor. Everybody’s struggling with supply chains."

Maine and Mississippi have politically powerful representation on the House and Senate Armed Services committees; Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) told Roll Call that the funding for an extra destroyer was justified, given the strong recent performance of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers in the Red Sea.