Pyle said the Constellation-class frigate, for which construction began in August 2022, can help distribute the force by offering a capability similar to the Arleigh Burke destroyers but in a smaller, less expensive package.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For now, Pyle\u2019s directorate is focused on keeping the frigate program fully funded so the Navy and Fincantieri\u2019s Marinette Marine shipyard can finish the design and construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEventually we\u2019d like to get to four frigates a year, and that will take a second yard,\u201d Pyle said, without providing a timeline for ramping up production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Navy leaders have long talked about wanting to build four a year to support a larger small combatant fleet \u2014 as the recent study emphasized \u2014 the Navy\u2019s most recent long-range shipbuilding plan never reaches that rate. Leaders have said they want to see Fincantieri mature the design and production line before a second shipbuilder joins the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pyle said the Navy and Pentagon are still finalizing what the force structure study means for the budget and ongoing modernization plans, and that more details would be released with the fiscal 2025 budget request around February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pyle said he views the surface force modernization plan<\/a> in three Future Years Defense Programs \u2014 or five-year budgetary planning windows for the Pentagon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first Future Years Defense Program, which spans the current FY24 to FY28, focuses on building the Constellation-class frigate and the Flight III Arleigh Burke destroyers, the first of which was commissioned in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It will also include the start of the Large Unmanned Surface Vessel program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pyle said three unmanned surface vessels currently deployed in the Pacific<\/a> are medium prototypes. While their mission and payloads are different than the planned large USV, which will use the Aegis Combat System to remotely launch missiles on behalf of crewed ships, these medium USVs are still generating applicable lessons on hull and navigational autonomy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But \u201cthere is still a ton of learning ahead of us on LUSV,\u201d Pyle said, \u201cbecause once you start integrating an adjunct weapons platform into the Aegis system, that is non-trivial work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said integration remains his primary concern for the Large Unmanned Surface Vessel program, for which a contract is expected to be awarded in FY25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have the structure; we have the expertise in place to be able to do that,\u201d Pyle noted. \u201cBottom line is, we will keep those vessels within line of sight [of manned combatants], where we can maintain positive control of them, until we have a very high confidence level that we can send them over the horizon and maintain [command and control] of those platforms and do what we need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The second Future Years Defense Program, which runs from FY29 to FY33, aims to add capability to the surface ships already in the fleet through the DDG Mod 2.0 program and the development of the Lockheed Martin-made Integrated Combat System.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pyle called DDG Mod 2.0 \u2014 which adds Aegis Combat System Baseline 10, the AN\/SPY-6 radar and the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block 3 package to Flight IIA destroyers \u2014 the \u201ccenterpiece\u201d of surface fleet modernization plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The destroyer Pinckney recently wrapped up its SEWIP installation at the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard<\/a> in San Diego, California. The vessel caught attention online for its new look, with what the shipyard dubbed \u201cbug eyes\u201d and Pyle called \u201cPrincess Leia buns<\/a>\u201d on the sides of the ship. (They\u2019re formally known as sponsons, with precisely angled steel planes to enable the electronic warfare tools housed inside.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4293012.jpg.jpg\")
Fielding new ships<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/8089631.jpg.jpg\")
Upgrading the fleet<\/h1>\n\n\n\n