On Friday, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan announced a significant change in naval shipbuilding strategy. He revealed the chosen design for the Medium Landing Ship program after the Navy canceled four ships from the problematic Constellation-class frigate program.
“We are fundamentally changing how the Navy builds and operates its Fleet,” Phelan shared on social media. “Today, I’m taking the second big step in that process: selecting the design for our Medium Landing Ship. This decision is driven by operational needs and budget considerations, which ensures we enhance the Fleet's capabilities on a sensible timeline.”
Phelan has selected the LST-100 landing ship transport, designed by the Dutch shipbuilder Damen. He noted that it is about 4,000 tons and can travel over 3,400 nautical miles. This design is also being used for Australia’s new Heavy Landing Craft, which is set to be built by Austal in Australia.
This announcement arrives as the Navy faces increasing delays in various shipbuilding projects. Last week, the Navy disclosed plans to cancel four Constellation-class frigates at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard in Wisconsin, which had not yet started construction. The cancellation was due to severe scheduling issues that pushed the delivery date of the lead ship from April 2026 to April 2029—a three-year delay.
The Medium Landing Ship program, formerly known as the Light Amphibious Warship program, aims to acquire between 18 and 35 new amphibious vessels to support Marine Corps operations. This is particularly focused on the Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations concept, designed for potential conflict situations with China in the Western Pacific.
According to this concept, the Marine Corps plans to deploy reinforced platoon-sized units that can move from island to island to launch anti-ship cruise missiles and conduct other missions alongside Navy forces. The LSMs are expected to play a vital role in these operations by transporting, landing, and later re-embarking these small Marine Corps units.
Phelan also stated that the Navy will select a Vessel Construction Manager through a competitive process to oversee the LSM program.
The LSM program may be built by various U.S. shipyards, although the Navy's preferred approach is to have a single shipyard build all the vessels. However, using multiple yards could help speed up production or reduce costs.
The cancellation of the four Constellation-class frigates continues a trend of significant changes in federal shipbuilding programs under the current administration. Previous decisions have included scrapping the U.S. Coast Guard's planned eleventh Legend-class National Security Cutter at Huntington Ingalls and partially halting the troubled Offshore Patrol Cutter program at Eastern Shipbuilding.
These actions highlight a concerning pattern of cutbacks across multiple maritime programs, even as U.S. naval and Coast Guard leaders warn that American shipyards and industrial capacity are already falling behind those of China.