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The UK government has been forced to restart the competition for work on the new Type 31e frigate programme.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said there had been a lack of what it called "compliant bids" to build the warships.
Glasgow MP Paul Sweeney said he believed the competition process was "never going to work".
The MoD intends to re-run the bidding process. Officials have insisted that there will be no delay to the overall shipbuilding programme.
When the work on the Type 31e was put out to competition, union officials on the Clyde said they were "not sure" they could trust UK government promises on future orders.
Clyde shipyards had hoped to secure some of the work - which was open to yards around the UK.
The Govan shipyard on the Clyde is building the next generation of anti-submarine warship, the Type 26 frigate.
UK ministers have said that guarantees 20 years of work for thousands of people.
The Labour MP for Glasgow North East, Paul Sweeney, told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme that the UK government's policy on the frigate programme has been cast into doubt.
He said: "Simply leaving it up to industry to come up with a price tag of £250m per ship was never going to work.
"They need to give confidence to industry that they are going to go with a consortium and then they will be able to invest with confidence to get the infrastructure right and the processes right to build a ship as cheaply and cost-effectively as possible."
Mr Sweeney added: "It was a wrong-headed approach from the start."
In a statement, the MoD said: "There have been no changes in our plans to procure a first batch of five new Type 31e frigates to grow our Royal Navy.
"We still want the first ship delivered by 2023 and are confident that industry will meet the challenge of providing them for the price tag we've set.
"This is an early contract in a wider procurement process, and we will incorporate the lessons learned and begin again as soon as possible so the programme can continue at pace."