The US Navy will evaluate the work of the five shipyards over the next 16 months before a final request for proposal in 2019 and a contract award in 2020, according to USNI News. Five ship designs will compete in the Navy’s bid for 20 next-generation guided-missile frigates (FFG(X)) that will follow the Littoral Combat Ship.

A total of seven US, European and Australian firms are understood to have submitted initial bids. Austal USA, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Fincantieri Marine and Huntington Ingalls were each awarded approximately $15 million for conceptual design of the Guided-missile Frigate (FFG(X)) project. The two which have been left out were not named.

Foreign designs required a partnership with a U.S. shipyard for construction. The Navy expects to pay anywhere from $800 to $950 million per hull for the next-generation frigate.