The MoD has announced a further £472 million for the Royal Navy’s Type 26 Frigate programme.
The investment in the Clyde frigate programme will allow the MoD to continue the project’s demonstration phase with additional investment for detailed design work, the purchase of essential equipment and setting up shore-based testing facilities.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said:
These highly advanced ships will help keep Britain safe and support our ship-building industry. Investing in them is part of our plan to increase defence spending so our Armed Forces have the most modern equipment they need.
Key equipment purchases include diesel generators, sonar domes, helicopter handling equipment, mission bay side doors and the stabiliser and steering gear system.
Together with five Offshore Patrol Vessel and the planned “at least 5” Type 31 General Purpose Frigate, the 18 new Clyde-built warships will be a key element of the UK’s defence capability.
Chief Executive of Defence Equipment and Support, the MOD’s procurement organisation, Tony Douglas added:
“We have a long history of delivering complex warships in the UK and as a result of today’s announcement we will continue to develop a clear way forward for the Type 26 Global Combat Ship Programme that reflects the recent Strategic Defence and Security Review, in which the design is further matured while extending the engagement of the wider UK supply chain.”
The Type 26 Frigate will be in service with the Royal Navy for decades to come, they will be capable of undertaking a wide range of roles from high intensity warfare to humanitarian assistance, either operating independently or as part of a task group.
Im quite looking forward to further information on the type 31’s. I know they are general purpose, but quite interested to see how general purpose they are going to be with the armament and also the road map for an increase in surface fleet numbers in that regard.
I think the type 31 concept is going to be important for the future of the Royal Navy.
good news I’m sure but when will an actual order for these ships be placed? It seems to me that there has been much talk of these ships since the early 2000’s but as yet not one single ship has been built, one wonders just how long does take to design and build a class of warships because 16 years seems a trifle too long, its a good job that there isn’t a war on.It would seem that our government past and present are experts at scrapping ships of the ROYAL NAVY but terribly useless when it comes to having… Read more »
should be capable of carrying 24 aster missiles, fire control system controlled by type 45.boosts missile numbers to 72.good for carrier battlegroup when only one type 45 available
This is welcome news.. would like to see around 30 Destroyers, Frigates and ocean going patrol vessels in the future.. may not happen until the 2030’s though, but things are going in the right direction for the Royal Navy.
It almost sounds too promising to be true regarding potential numbers for future frigates, knowing the record of all recent governments. I also think it’s about time somebody within the MOD came up with the class names for the type 26’s.
All this talk of light, General Purpose Frigates gives me great concern of what happens in a real shooting war when things start to go flash, bang wallop.
Is it really beyond this country, supposedly the worlds 5th largest economy to build 13 or more fully kitted-out type 26’s and possibly a further 6 (Batch2) Type 45’s? I always thought the more you order/build the cheaper the unit cost. If so why are we always doing things on the cheap, paying over the odds and getting very little in return in terms of numbers, and fitted for but not with.
I seem to recall a long-ago commitment to 13 hulls for the T26. The next SDSR watered this down to 8. It seems to me that the proposed T31 will be an “austerity” version of T26, to seemingly restore the original promise of 13 frigates. The 5 OPVs will be welcome also – but it doesn’t remove the lingering aftertaste of the T45 outcome: an original promise of 12 new destroyers; then we were getting 8; we finished up with 6 – and thought ourselves lucky, at that.