Contenders for the FFG(X) Next-Generation Frigate (image: USNI)

The US Navy issued a request for proposal (RFP) for up to 10 ships of the next-generation frigate program, the FFG(X) program, with each of the ships costing up to $1.2 billion.

The Navy RFP said the next-generation frigate will have "multi-mission capability to conduct air warfare, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare, electronic warfare and information operations." The ship would have at least 32 vertical launching system cells and an AEGIS-based combat system.

"We anticipate the lead ship's cost will be $1.2 billion," Hondo Geurts, Navy acquisition executive told Congress last year.

The request for proposals, or RFP, are for the first 10 ships -- one base ship and nine option vessels. The Navy wants to reach the full requirement of 20 ships and is planning a second contract closer to fiscal year 2025 for the next 10 ships.

The Navy said Thursday it expects to award a contract to one company in fiscal year 2020.Interested bidders will have until Aug. 22 to submit their technical proposals to the Navy and until Sept. 26 to submit their pricing proposal, reports USNI News.

The service is counting on the new frigate to help the fleet operate in a distributed manner in a contested maritime environment. To that end, the final solicitation for bids for the FFG(X) program highlights a particular interest in what industry can offer in range; margins for weight, cooling, electrical and arrange able deck area, to allow the ship to bring in new technologies as they develop; acoustic signature management; undersea surveillance; and over-the-horizon capabilities.

The Navy awarded five development contracts in July 2018 to shipbuilders to refine an existing parent hull design as a basis for the frigate, which must be built in domestic shipyards, according to federal law.

The $15 million contracts were awarded to Huntington Ingalls Industries, Austal USA, Lockheed Martin, Fincantieri Marine and General Dynamics Bath Iron Works to refine their own frigate parent designs as a parent ship design must have been through production and demonstrated in full scale at sea.