Posted on June 9, 2025
The Coast Guard and HII Ingalls Shipbuilding agreed to stop construction on what was set to be the last Legend-class National Security Cutter, a company spokesperson told USNI News on Thursday.
The proposed USCGC Friedman (WMSL-760) was set to be the 11th in the line of the 4,600-ton cutters that are the service’s most capable surface vessel.
According to Ingalls, the company and the Coast Guard settled a contract dispute in late May over the construction of Friedman. The Coast Guard issued the contract for that cutter, along with USCGC Calhoun (WMSL-759), as part of a $930 million contract option for the two ships.
While Calhoun delivered in 2023, Friedman stalled sometime after HII announced the official start of fabrication in 2021. At the time, the Coast Guard expected the ship to be delivered in 2024.
“The forecasted delays and setbacks were associated with a contract-related dispute. We worked collaboratively with the Coast Guard to reach a mutually acceptable resolution that supports and aligns with the Coast Guard’s overall cost-saving objectives,” Ingalls spokeswoman Kimberly Aguillard told USNI News in a Thursday statement. “In mutual agreement with the USCG, we have signed a contract modification that identifies an alternate strategy related to the sunsetting of the NSC program, which has already exceeded the original acquisition objective of eight ships. Rather than proceeding with construction of the eleventh ship of the NSC class, we have agreed to execute a plan that maximizes readiness of the existing NSC fleet, by supporting overall operational availability and capability of the first ten NSCs in service.”
HII declined to comment on the amount of work that had been completed on Friedman or the financial terms of the contract.
A Coast Guard spokesperson reached on Thursday referred USNI News to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson when asked for comment. DHS did not immediately return a from USNI News.
Following an earlier version of this post, DHS issued a statement from Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
“Huntington Ingalls owed us this cutter over a year ago. As the Trump administration is revitalizing the U.S. Coast Guard through Force Design 2028, we need to be smart with the American taxpayer’s money,” reads Noem’s statement. “This project was over time and over budget. Now the money can be redirected to ensuring the Coast Guard remains the finest, most-capable maritime service in the world. I would like to extend my thanks to Huntington Ingalls for negotiating in good faith.”
The statement said $260 million went back to the government and the Coast Guard would get $135 million in spare parts from Ingalls.
Earlier this year, U.S. Coast Guard acting commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday said that the National Security Cutter has faced spare parts problems.
“When a National Security Cutter pulls into port, we do a controlled parts exchange, which is a fancy term for cannibalizing our readiness. No ship gets underway without stripping another for parts,” he said in April. “You can only cannibalize your readiness and eat your own readiness for so long in that downward death spiral and that’s where we’re at.”
The Coast Guard is working through its Force Design 2028 program in concert with a planned $14.6 billion for cutters as part of the reconciliation bill currently under consideration in the Senate.
