The UK’s next generation anti-submarine warfare fleet is on schedule for the first in class entering service in 2028, according to a written parliamentary answer from Defence Minister Luke Pollard.
Pollard confirmed that “the Type 26 programme remains on track to meet all user requirements and deliver eight world-class anti-submarine warfare frigates in time to replace the anti-submarine warfare Type 23s.”
All eight ships are expected to enter Royal Navy service between 2028 and 2035, forming the backbone of the fleet’s anti-submarine capability for the coming decades.
Pollard added that “Type 26 frigates will allow the Royal Navy to continue to play a leading role in the anti-submarine theatre of the North Atlantic, providing a crucial output to both NATO and the Joint Expeditionary Force.”
The Type 26, or City-class, is designed as a highly capable multi-role warship optimised for anti-submarine operations while supporting air defence and general-purpose missions. Developed under the Global Combat Ship programme, the design replaces the ageing Type 23s and forms the basis for export variants for Australia, Canada, and Norway.
It is the first shared warship design between the three Commonwealth nations since the pre-war Tribal-class destroyer, symbolising renewed industrial and operational alignment among key allies.
Each ship displaces roughly 8,000 tonnes, measures 150 metres in length and has a range exceeding 7,000 nautical miles. Its combined diesel-electric and gas turbine propulsion provides speeds above 26 knots, with advanced acoustic quieting for submarine-hunting operations.
The combat system integrates the Artisan 3D radar, Sonar 2087 towed array, Type 2150 bow sonar, and the Mk 41 Vertical Launch System capable of deploying the Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon. The class will also be equipped with a 5-inch Mk 45 naval gun, Sea Ceptor missiles, and Phalanx CIWS for close-in defence.
The ships feature a mission bay for modular payloads and a Chinook-capable flight deck supporting Merlin or Wildcat helicopters and uncrewed systems. Construction is led by BAE Systems in Glasgow, where HMS Glasgow and HMS Cardiff are in fitting out, HMS Belfast is under construction, and Batch 2 ships, Birmingham, Sheffield, and Newcastle, are progressing through early build.
Man, that’s been a slow burn – seem to recall they cut steel on theses in 2017? I look forward to a MOD commitment to get on with the Type 32 !
You’re funny
that’s what me mum says!
Type 32… ho ho ho Christmas soon.
“In time to replace” my ass!!
Laughable
Windows in on the bridge by the looks of it …. slowly but surely! Can we see the assembly hall in the distance on the main picture here George, or is this off the picture to the left?
The picture was taken in May, so progress maybe a bit faster than you’d think?
That’s a poky looking helicopter hangar for a ship of this size.
It fits a Merlin? What else do you want
He just wants to complain, it’s utterly endemic on this site of hadn’t you noticed?
Two Merlins? A Merlin and a Proteus? Nice to have a bit of flexibility, don’t you think?
You’d never get 2 Merlin’s side by side
I refer you to my original comment.
Babcocks proposal for the 32, the Arrowhead 140 MNP is claiming to enlarge the hanger to fit 2 Merlins? There’s trade offs of course.
You know you can actually fit two Merlins in a Type 26 hangar right?
Do you have a source for that? It’s not what I’ve heard.
Yes I don’t understand why they could not get a side by side hanger to be honest.. I suspect it’s because Merlin is so large and they only planned for the small ship flight to be a Merlin.. but in hindsight with the rise of drone warfare.. having a side by side that could take a Merlin + wildcat or medium sized drone would have been more future proof.
The funnels have to be positioned differently thanks to the mission bay, doesn’t leave room for a double hangar
Cheers Hugo.. so we sacrificed hanger space for mission bays.. I wonder if that was the correct compromise ?
Only time will tell, but I would suggest that they have tried to future proof the design. Not an easy task given the rate at which autonomous vehicles are developing.
Cheers CR
Yep indeed.. drone warfare at sea was nothing but a concept when the type 26s were designed.
Not really, you can put two Merlins into the Hangar, it’s just they have to be inline, so you have to have one in the air when you launch the second one.
Tbf to the Navy I don’t think any of the double hangar escorts are designed for 2x Merlin, Seahawk is significantly smaller.
It probably could and should have been done though, even if one of the hangars would be ‘flexible’ and could also (by means of a ceiling mounted handling system) act as a mission bay for a single USV or XLUUV.
They can take two Merlin if required
That’s not confirmed and they can’t operate them effectively
Not confirmed? The Hangar and mission bay are empty spaces and have a combined length of 35meters, a Merlin folded is 15.7m long, the fact that you can fit two into the space is an objective fact.
That’s not the same as putting two in the hangar, is it? Do you know the width of the doorway between hangar and mission bay? Might the mechanism of the overhead mission bay handling system get in the way of something as large as a Merlin passing between the two spaces? Saying that the length is enough doesn’t mean you can actually operate them the way you suggest.
In service by 2035, in time to replace all the type 23’s ?????
What 23 is realisticall still going to be seaworthy by 2035???
Delaying this project so long was almost treasonous!
Cameron really was a waste of space pm
I would lay odds that we will not have a T23 left after 2030 to be honest.. the test will be Kent..if the abandon the refit on Kent.. then you can pretty much write the whole fleet of by 2030.
Now what interests me is not when she enters service but when she becomes operational, because that is the meaningful date.. first in class sea trials will take time. If we look back at HMS Norfolk the first in class for the T23s she entered service on the 1st June 1990.. undertook first in class trials until November 1991 and completed her BOST in December 1991 and her first opperation role was in joint warrior Jan 2022.. she then had a rectifications period and her first deployment in May 1992.
So let’s say Glasgow is handed over and commissioned mid 2028 ( June-Oct for the sake of ).. she will not be operational and deployable until early to mid 2030… at which point if we cannot get any T23s through refit we will have zero T23s.
I suspect (I hope) that you are being a touch pessimistic. The ship looks very nearly complete, and I understand that she will be on ships power very soon, if she isn’t already. I reckon she could be ready for contractors trials in the spring if not earlier. Given the timeline you state for Norfolk then she could be operational in 2028. Alright I am being optimistic. And I think that the OSD for St Albans is meant to be 2035, by which time most if not all of the class should be delivered.
Just a suggestion to George, could we have a regular update on the state of play at the two Scottish shipyards, say quarterly. Many of us are based a long way south but still have a strong interest in how the programmes are progressing. It’s going to be very interesting to see how the Norwegian order impacts the deliveries to the RN from Govan, and also when the first Danish ships are delivered from Rosyth, assuming the contract goes through.
Hi Nick first in class trails for first in class are not the same as the contractors trials. The contractors trial will happen first and after those she will be handed over in 2028 and commissioned..only after this point does the RN undertake its trials and the first in class trials begin and these alway take about 18 months or so.. and alway happen after hand over and commissioning.. the only way for Glasgow to have finished her sea trials and be operational by 2028 is if she begins builder sea trials now and was ready to be handed over to the navy and commissioned in late 2026.
Essentially the builders sea trials are snagging.. the RNs first in class trials are essentially to fully understand the ship, how it works and fights, to write all the how to correctly fight a Type 26..
If you take my Norfolk example I did not include builders sea trials as these had taken place thought the previous year 1989.
In regards to St Ablans that out of service date is dependant on her surviving her post lifex refit which she will have around 2029.. she cannot go to 2035 without this post lifex refit.. the problem is every single T23 that has hit that post lifex refit has ended up being scrapped.. not one of then has been successfully refitted and returned to service.. this is why HMS Kent is the test.. because she has just gone in for her 6 year post lifex refit, if they turn around and say Kent cannot be economically refitted she will join a list of type 23s that have found to be beyond economic repair at the six year post lifex refit point and you can say that it’s very very unlikely any of the T23s will every get beyond 6 years post lifex.
Contractors’ trials due to start end 25/early 26. Handover to RN by end 2026. IOC sometime in 2028. All 8 in service by 2035.
Thus spoke UKDJ on 5/12/2024, so it must be true.
It would be nice if they were still on that timeline…
I understand we have a requirement for an ASROC type weapon, but no progress in that area yet?
In slightly related news, I see New Zealand seem to be focusing on the Mogami for their new ships rather than the 31, which makes sense given the RAN is going for it. Naval News has an article on it but I won’t link it as that seems to end up stuck in a moderate queue.
As well as the 8 type 26 for the RN from 2028 to 2035 which implies one per year there also needs to be five for Norway starting in 2030 and also running at around one per year.
This means assembly in the Janet Harvey hall in 12 months.
I think this would be possible if enough blocks can be constructed elsewhere to feed the production line.
The bottleneck I see is at scotstoun for fitting out. Can each vessel be fitted out in a year in one of the two dry docks in use?
That might be problematic, but there is a third dry dock on site which is a bit too short as far as I can tell using Google maps.
Will there be a program to extend this third dry dock to give more flexibility in the fitting out program from 2029-30
There is time to do it if things are already been looked at.
An alternative might be to cover the drydocks to allow 24 hour working which would speed up some operations.
Martin, it is not only the RN/RNoN T26s to have the first of the T83s by 2038 which seems to be the plan we would need to place long lead orders in 2029-2030 and fist steel cut in 2030-2032. Things are going to be a bit tight in the build hall. Yes I know I am making the assumption that BAE would get the T83 order. This is based on the fact that the main item on the T83 would be its radar suite which would seem likely to come from BAE then it is logical that BAE will be lead in the T83 program.
This is fantastalisticallly brilliant news and testamount to the skills and planning efforts and foresight we have come to expect during these testing times, I shall look forward to the Champers bottle being smashed in the years that follow.
Having 3 Merlins (2 in the hanger and one on deck) will be a great capability too and having all 8 ships at sea patrolling our AOI’s with such State of the art, World leading Ships will Make Britain Great (again) (MBG) add those state of the art Gas Turbines (GT’s) and we have a winning vehicle once more.
All hail the MGB GT.
Let’s take a moment to consider …….over 10 years to build 1 ship , does anyone else find that a bit ridiculous .