Propulsion decision for Constellation-class frigates
Turbines selected for key USN programme that will deliver new fleet of frigate to the service
GE Marine has been selected to provide its LM2500+G4 gas turbine and control system for the USN’s future Constellation-class frigate, it was announced on 16 December.
Based on Fincantieri’s FREMM frigate design in service with the Italian Navy, the Constellation class will feature the same gas turbine in a CODLAG propulsion configuration throughout the first ten-ship constructed under the USN’s FFG(X) programme.
The LM2500+G4 marine gas turbine was introduced in 2012 with the commissioning of the French Navy's FREMM multipurpose frigate Aquitaine, which was also a ten-ship programme. Since then, the LM2500+G4 has been selected for the Italian Navy's FREMM frigates and Pattugliatori Polivalenti d'Altura multipurpose offshore patrol ships; the first of seven PPA's will be commissioned in 2021.
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