After a 35-year break, the US Navy is building frigates again, and it has a lot of catching up to...

In the summer, the shipbuilder Fincantieri Marinette Marine began construction on the US Navy's first Constellation-class frigate, making the first cut of steel at its Wisconsin shipyard on August 31.

Fincantieri plans to lay the keel of that ship, USS Constellation, this August. It will be the US Navy's first frigate since the retirement of its last Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate in 2015.

When it arrives later this decade, USS Constellation will mark the return of a small but versatile class of ships to the US Navy.

To realize its ambitions for the Constellation class, the Navy is applying hard lessons it has learned from recent high-profile warship programs that have cost too much, taken too long, or done too little.