- Golden Fleet is an advanced Navy shipbuilding effort with new battleships and frigates
- The Navy has requested $66 billion in FY 2027 to get the program started
- Get exclusive Golden Fleet investment insights at the 2026 Navy Summit on Aug. 27!
The U.S. Navy’s Golden Fleet program is more than just a presidential priority. It’s the service’s answer to a shrinking, aging surface fleet.
Golden Fleet is designed as a deliberate high-low mix. It will pair the new BBG(X) guided missile battleship, built for long-range fires, directed energy and survivable command-and-control, with the FF(X) frigate, a producible, lower-cost hull designed to absorb routine missions and direct unmanned systems.
There is big money behind Golden Fleet. The Navy requested $66 billion in fiscal year 2027 to start the program: 18 battle force ships and 16 auxiliary ships. The centerpiece of Golden Fleet is the BBG(X) guided missile battleship.
There’s more where that came from. The Congressional Budget Office anticipates the Navy spending $275 billion to $475 billion on the BBG(X) guided missile battleships for 15 or 25 ships, respectively, through 2056.
For contractors, that means real near-term opportunity:
- Shipbuilding and industrial-base investment
- Containerized payload and mission-module development
- Directed energy and railgun integration
- Integrated Combat System work
- Unmanned surface vessel C2 architectures.
The Navy is also explicitly courting a “national collaborative team” approach and digital-engineering practices, signaling openness to primes and subs beyond the traditional shipyards. Golden Fleet promises to shape acquisition strategy now and for years to come.
Let’s dig into the key Golden Fleet provisions in the Navy’s FY 2027 budget request.
Discover advanced AI-native shipbuilding and digital engineering practices for Golden Fleet at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Navy Summit on Aug. 27! At the Building Golden Fleet with Software panel discussion, examine leveraging digital twins to modernize fleet design and sustainment and transforming acquisition through software-driven development from top service officers and industry executives:
- Shery Thomas, Navy Installations Command enterprise IT officer
- Robert Keisler, Naval Information Warfare Center senior scientific technical manager, data science and analytics engineering competency senior manager
- Edmond Kuqo, Navy Raise technical warrant holder AI/LLM
- David Voelker, Navy zero trust architecture lead
- Capt. (retired) Rich Sussman (moderator), SAIC director of business development
- Rob McGregor, Amazon Web Services senior manager for DOW solutions architecture
Secure your seat today for this eagerly-anticipated GovCon forum!
What Are the Key Golden Fleet Provisions In the Navy’s Budget Request?
1. Big Funding for BBG(X) Guided Missile Battleship Concept Development
The Navy’s BBG(X) guided missile battleship acquisition program is the centerpiece of the Golden Fleet effort. Designed to meet the realities of modern maritime conflict, BBG(X), considered the high end of the Golden Fleet mix, prioritizes strengthening sea power through battlespace dominance and restoring warfighting advantages through advanced C2 capabilities.
BBG(X)’s advanced systems will enable true long-range strike with hypersonic weapons housed in new, larger vertical launch systems. Vastly increased power generation, managed by sophisticated integrated power systems with high-capacity energy storage, will support mission-critical directed energy weapons like high-output lasers and electromagnetic railguns.
The Navy in FY 2027 is planning for preliminary design of BBG(X), maturing the initial baseline design by developing the initial ship specifications and completing the selection of major system components. The service will focus on accelerating the design timeline in support of design maturation.
BBG(X) is a top priority of the Navy. The service is requesting $586 million for the program, a new start, in FY 2027 and anticipates requesting $1.9 billion through FY 2031.
2. Huge Boost for FF(X) Frigate
The Navy calls the FF(X) frigate, a small blue water surface combatant and the low end of the mix, a strategic necessity. It will close a significant shortfall in the service’s small surface combatant inventory and build a more balanced, flexible fleet. As the low-end anchor of the Golden Fleet high-low mix, the FF(X) frigate will execute surface warfare, counter-unmanned aerial systems and C2 of unmanned systems missions, as enabled through containerized payloads.
To deliver at speed and scale, the Navy is acquiring its new class of frigates based on HII’s Legend-class national security cutter design as the FF(X) baseline, which has been operational for 17 years with 10 delivered cutters. The FF(X) program is also utilizing equipment, systems and materials from the cancelled Coast Guard NSC 11 on hand at the shipbuilder to support execution and accelerated production of the first FF(X) in FY 2027.
Studies for future flights will consider expanded capabilities, including vertical launch systems and anti-submarine warfare systems. FF(X) C2 will be enabled through the use of Navy warfare system programs of record including the FF(X) combat system and eventually Aegis-based Integrated Combat System.
The Navy plans to continue systems engineering and platform integration efforts for C4I, combat and aviation systems in FY 2027. It also wants to initiate Combat System Integration testing to verify system functionality, interoperability and readiness for integration into the total ship combat system architecture.
The Navy requested $212 million for FF(X) development in FY 2027, which would be a 162 percent increase from the $81 million provided in FY 2026. It expects to request $835 million for FF(X) through FY 2031.
Golden Fleet is redefining naval power and advanced technology acquisition. Shape the conversation by attending the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Navy Summit on Aug. 27. Get the acquisition, budget and technology priorities for Golden Fleet’s high-low fleet mix straight from the leaders steering it during illuminating keynotes from:
- NEW—Vice Adm. Rob Gaucher, Navy director of submarine programs
- Vice Adm. Brad Skillman, deputy chief of naval operations for the integration of capabilities and resources, N8
- Barry Tanner, Navy acting chief information officer
- Vice Adm. Michael Vernazza, commander of naval information forces
- Lt. Gen. Joseph Matos, Marine Corps deputy commandant for information
- Hon. Hung Cao, acting DON secretary
Sign up now to position your firm for the next wave of Navy investment.
3. Manufacturing Technology Cash Infusion
The Navy is increasing investment in shipbuilding and industrial base improvements in preparation for the Golden Fleet. The service increased its request in FY 2027 to $35 million, a $16 million boost from the $19 million enacted in FY 2027, for a variety of manufacturing technology tasks in addition to supporting Golden Fleet initiatives, including:
- Completing enterprise and sustainment technology projects in areas like additive manufacturing, coatings, digital measurement and process flow optimization
- Developing and transitioning advanced manufacturing enterprise and sustainment technology improvements for key platforms like DDG 51, CVN 78 and F-35
- Initiate advanced manufacturing enterprise and sustainment technology projects in technologies like shipboard sensors, high pressure gas generation and shipboard drilling.
The Navy requested $79 million in FY 2027 for manufacturing technology projects, up from $64 million in FY 2026. The service expects to request $279 million for manufacturing technology efforts through FY 2031.
4. Bulking Up Future Naval Capabilities Applied Research
The Navy increased its Future Naval Capabilities Applied Research budget request by $17 million for FY 2027 in support of Innovative Naval Prototypes/Future Naval Capabilities selections and Golden Fleet activities. It’s also part of the Naval Engineering Project The service requested $305 million for FNC Applied Research in FY 2027 and expects to request $1.1 billion for this program through FY 2031.
The Naval Engineering Project develops and matures technologies that enable superior warfighting capabilities for surface and sub-surface naval platforms, undersea weapons and countermeasures and Marine Corps technologies so they can transition to advanced technology development efforts. The NEP specifically improves design, fabrication, integration and operation of ground and sea naval warfare platforms, sensors, weapons, networks and countermeasures to maximize their operational availability and effectiveness.
The Navy in FY 2027 plans to identify alternative undersea advanced material hull concepts that have an enhanced resistance to weapon effects and develop a high-fidelity predictive capability. It also wants to continue feasibility and utility studies for next generation undersea submersibles.
5. Deeper Pockets for Advanced Surface Machinery, Testing and Evaluation
The Navy is compressing BBG(X)’s design-to-construction timeline and is front-loading hundreds of millions of research, development, test and evaluation, or RDT&E, dollars to get Golden Fleet into the water faster. The service increased its budget request for BBG(X) Integrated Power Systems advanced surface machinery systems by $39 million in FY 2027 to $251 million for BBG(X)’s expanded scope and accelerated schedule—a condensed construction time in support of Golden Fleet’s shipbuilding plan.
The Navy also wants a smaller increase for BBG(X) testing and evaluation to accelerate Golden Fleet fielding. The service requested $8.3 million in FY 2027 to begin live fire test and evaluation and survivability assessment modeling and simulation execution for BBG(X) in FY 2027. It would also perform hull form and integrated power system development tests.
