The navy continued to look into improvements for the last 20 ships of the 52-ship LCS procurement, that would increase the capabilities to that of a frigate. It was reported that the navy was considering four different options as "leading contenders" for the role of this new frigate. The first being the ("National Security Cutter"), in use by the U.S. Coast Guard. Another being the group of three variants of differing size, (both shorter and longer than the current "Freedom" class). The third was a once hinted at "international" version of the , that could be AEGIS-equipped, and lastly, an American-built version of the Spanish Navy's F-100-class frigate.