The forward section of first Type 26 Frigate HMS Glasgow was rolled out of the build hall earlier today.

The Type 26 represents the future backbone of the Royal Navy and eight of the class are planned, starting with HMS Glasgow.

The forward ‘superblock’ will be joined to the aft ‘superblock’ over the coming weeks to form one complete Type 26 Frigate hull.

The mast will also soon be added to the vessel.

Below is the aft section being joined together into a superblock which will soon be joined to the forward section pictured above.

The Type 26 represents the future backbone of the Royal Navy and eight of the class are planned, starting with HMS Glasgow. The eight ships will replace the eight dedicated anti-submarine Type 23 frigates which will reach the end of their active lives by the mid 2030s.

In addition to the Clyde built Type 26, five Rosyth built Type 31 general purpose frigates are intended to replace the general-purpose Type 23s currently in service and also coming towards the end of their long careers.

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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30 COMMENTS

  4. I know very little about shipbuilding.

    But does it really have to take 6 years from a complete hull (due soon) to being fully operational?

  5. Ok stupid question time, but with such clear cuts, exactly how do they join both sections of the ship together resulting in a water tight bonding strong enough to take years of battering of the worse weather nature can throw at you?

  7. When there are people who are suggesting the budget has been cut in half I don’t think it helps to show a video of half a ship being rolled out.

  8. I’ve been thinking recently whether obsolescence with Artisan, 2087 and Sea Ceptor in particular will become an issue give that it will be around 15 years between them being introduced into the fleet on the T23’s and the first T26 actually commissioning. Can we be reasonable confident that they will have a long future with incremental upgrades that will keep them relevant?

    • According to the video on the BAES Cowes facility at the bottom of linked web page below, Sampson will get a BMD update in the 2023-4 timeframe while Artisan will have an update around 2027-8 timeframe. The timeline is shown about 1:50 into the video.

      https://www.baesystems.com/en/productfamily/radar-uk

      Nothing is specified on what either upgrade involves, i.e. hardware, software or both, or even if the RN would take the upgrade. One hint on the “Future Radar” page is that BAES have used another companies technology, presumably GaN, to produce a new TRM that might feature in an Artisan upgrade –

      “Working with a third party technology provider, we have developed a new bespoke transceiver which has been tested at our site at Cowes on the Isle of Wight. The system’s ability to cancel clutter has been proven and this approach is ready for adoption in new and existing radar throughout 2020.”

      All just speculation of course.

    • All equipment gets Mods and upgrades throughout its life.
      Mods can be done by ships staff and can be as simple as improving a hinge on a cabinet or putting a bigger cooling fan in a server rack.
      Other Mods are done as part of a MODEX where a contractor comes in and does a lot of complex and equipment performance altering mods. These can take weeks to complete.

      For obsolesence issues the MOD is constantly watching suppliers to ensure parts are replaced like for like as required as original components are replaced or are no longer made.

      Problem is that replacement kit is supposed to be exactly the same “Fit, Form and Purpose” as the original. It isn’t always. Sometimes you need to alter things such as mounting frames, supports, connections, plugs, wiring etc to get them in.

      For upgrades the MOD is pretty good at what it does. Compare a T23 as built to what you have now. Internally in the machinery and externally on the upper deck they are completely different beasts.

      Upgrades that I can remember are
      RO Plants
      AC System
      Pumps
      Gensets
      Machinery control
      LED internal lighting
      Radios, HF, VHF and UF
      Bowman radio
      CSS
      Navystar /Modnet IT systems
      Scott 5
      EW and ESM and lots of sneaky three letter abbreviation kit fitted as required.
      30mm Guns and THIMs
      Mk 8 Gun from MOD 0 to Mod 1
      Extended range Ammo meant upgrades to ballistic computers.
      Sea wolf modded to SWIMLU then removed and replaced by Sea Ceptor
      DNA Command system replaced
      2031 replaced by 2087
      2050 upgraded to 2051 sonar
      996 radar now Artisan
      1007 nav radar now 1008
      182 Torpedo decoy Now a SSTD SYSTEM.(via nixie)
      HELO services from Sea king/ Lynx to Merlin/Wilcat
      MTLS to accept MOD 1 STING RAY
      DLF decoys
      Sea Gnat to Sea Gnat with distraction, secuction, IR and active decoy rounds
      Paper Charts now electronic ECDIS system
      Warship AIS
      Ship TV system
      Welcome phones( no more HF radio calls required!)
      SCAN EAGLE
      Sea boats and davits
      Garbage disposal systems
      Sewage systems

      There are others but those are off the top of my head that I saw come into use.

  9. I hope there is a block that goes in the centre – she looks like a third of a ship – at just shy of 150Ms does that block really look like 75Ms?

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