The RFI implies the Navy is still concerned about the cost of the new ship and perhaps wants to use the FFG(X) as something other than a traditional frigate.

In the meantime, the Navy has maintained that it needs at least 52 small surface combatants, ultimately made up mostly of littoral combat ships, to do security cooperation exercises with allies and the low-end missions the LCS was purchased for in the first place, said Bryan Clark, a retired submariner and analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.  

“If it is well-built, a rim-driven pump jet would be a quieter propulsion system than traditional propellers, and could be quieter than shaft-driven pump jets like those on some U.S. submarines,” Bryan Clark, a retired U.S. Navy undersea warfare officer and analyst the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

USNI News reported Friday some naval analysts believe the three countries plan to boost joint anti-submarine warfare operations in response to Russia’s submarine activities in the North Atlantic. Bryan Clark, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, told USNI News the agreement could allow for sharing of airfields, maintenance facilities and equipment.

“In our analysis, we expect surface combatants to quickly expend their VLS magazines even in a small confrontation and need to leave the conflict area to reload.” 

“This planned agreement reflects the increased need for regular maritime patrols to monitor Russian submarine operations and deployments past the G-I-U.K. [Greenland-Iceland-U.K.] gap and coming out of the Baltic Sea,” said Bryan Clark, a naval analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

“With Norway and the UK both buying P-8As, the agreement should enable the three countries to share airfields, maintenance facilities, and equipment in the UK, Norway, and Iceland (which is a U.S.-leased facility). This is important to ensure NATO P-8As can cover the whole set of chokepoints from Greenland to Denmark that Russian submarines would need to pass through.”