The Navy’s Potential New Frigate Connects Crew, Lots of Space for Commandos

Five shipbuilders are fighting it out to build 20 of the U.S. Navy's new frigates, and one competitor is sailing though a whirlwind East Coast tour

BALTIMORE HARBOR: The U.S. Navy is in the market for a new frigate, and the ship of the future might be sitting pierside in Manhattan.

The Italian frigate ITS Alpino steamed out of Baltimore harbor Wednesday evening to spend a few days in New York and Boston, the final leg of an East Coast tour that also saw it conduct training operations with the USS Gonzalez off the Virginia coast.

For Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri — and its Marinette, Wisc.-based subsidiary, Fincantieri Marine Group, — the tour is a prime opportunity to show off the capabilities of the ship that is competing for the contract to build the Navy’s next guided missile frigate, known as the FFG(X).

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