USS Lafayette (FFG-65)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Lafayette.

USS Lafayette (FFG-65) will be the fourth Constellation-class guided-missile frigate.^[1] The fourth ship in the United States Navy bearing this name, she will be built by Marinette Marine, a subsidiary of Fincantieri, with an expected completion date somewhere in 2029. The frigate is named in honor of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, a French hero of the American Revolutionary War. Her name was announced on 29 June 2023 by Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro when he visited Paris.^[4][5]

Artist rendering of the final Constellation-class design
History
United States
Name	Lafayette
Namesake	Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette
Awarded	18 May 2023[1]
Builder	Fincantieri Marinette Marine, Marinette, Wisconsin
Identification	Hull number: FFG-65
Status	Ordered
General characteristics
Class and type	Constellation-class frigate
Displacement	6,700 t (6,594 long tons; 7,385 short tons) full load
Length	151.18 m (496.0 ft)
Beam	19.81 m (65.0 ft)
Draft	7.92 m (26.0 ft)
Propulsion	CODLAG 1 × General Electric LM2500+G4 gas turbine[2] driving a Philadelphia Gear Gearbox system[3] 2 × electric propulsion motors: INDAR 2 x 3.4 MW 4 × ship service diesel generators Rolls-Royce MTU 20V 4000 M53B engine 3000 kW for a total output of 12 MW electrical ship power 2 x fixed-pitch propellers 1 × auxiliary propulsion unit Thrustmasters of Texas Hydrologic Retractable Thruster
Speed	in excess of 26 kn (48 km/h; 30 mph)
Range	6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph) (electric drive)
Boats & landing craft carried	2 × rigid-hulled inflatable boats
Capacity	200 accommodations
Complement	140 crew
Sensors and processing systems	COMBATSS-21 Combat Management System (AEGIS derivative) AN/SPY-6(V)3 Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR) AN/SPS-73(V)18 - Next Generation Surface Search Radar AN/SLQ-61 light weight towed array sonar AN/SQS-62 Variable-Depth Sonar AN/SQQ-89F undersea warfare/anti-submarine warfare combat system Cooperative Engagement Capability
Armament	32 Mark 41 VLS cells with: Possibly RIM-162 ESSM Block 2 and/or RIM-174 Standard ERAM missiles Planned RIM-66 Standard SM-2 Block 3C 8 × or 16 × canister launched Over-the-horizon Anti-Ship Weapons (likely Naval Strike Missile) RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile launched from Mk 49 Guided Missile Launching System (21 cell) Mk 110 57mm gun with the Advanced Low Cost Munition Ordnance (ALaMO) projectile and related systems. Various machine guns M240 or M2
Aircraft carried	1 × MH-60R Seahawk helicopter MQ-8C Firescout