Babcock has secured a new contract worth approximately £65 million to deliver the Capability Insertion Period (CIP) for all five Type 31 frigates being built for the Royal Navy.
The CIP phase will introduce a series of capability upgrades to the vessels, enhancing their operational effectiveness beyond the baseline design and build specification. These upgrades will be integrated, tested, and refined at Babcock’s Rosyth facility in Scotland, where the Type 31 ships are currently under construction.
Paul Watson, Arrowhead Managing Director at Babcock, said: “This new contract provides additional military capability for the vessels beyond the initial design and build contract. The detailed knowledge that we have of these ships, combined with our forward-thinking design, will enable an efficient installation and through-life support of the systems and equipment.”
Watson added: “As the design and build partner, Babcock is expertly placed to provide the know-how and technical information to deliver these important activities in the development of the ships through the CIP. We are proud of the role we play alongside our customer – their mission is our mission.”
The contract was awarded by Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), the Ministry of Defence’s procurement arm. Steven Perry, Type 31 Project Manager at DE&S, said: “We are pleased to have awarded Babcock the CIP contract for the Type 31 fleet. This contract will deliver capability upgrades that go beyond the vessel build specification, delivering Type 31 frigates to the Royal Navy that will ensure the UK remains at the forefront of global security.”
Babcock was initially awarded the Type 31 design and build contract in 2019. The company is delivering the Arrowhead 140 design-based frigates, which will form a key component of the Royal Navy’s future surface fleet. Designed for adaptability and global presence, the ships will be capable of operating alongside allies and fulfilling a wide range of missions worldwide.
So in plain English is this related to the post build CIP for MK41 VLS for the Venturer and Active or something else.
Personally I’m just waiting for an update from Babcock as to when they may actually shoo one out of its Shed and into the water.
It’s spring so it’s high time their ducklings got wet !
I was thinking the same thing, the statement is a bit vague, let’s hope it is about MK41s
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Last we heard, first launch was to be some time in the next six months. (First half of the financial year.)
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we were told venturer would be ,’feet wet ‘ last summer. so what is really going on? the navy is desperate for the New ships and the yards are taking the p*** four years for a OPV? when a yard does this, why then is it regarded wit more lucrative contracts for frigates?
What does £13m per ship buy you; wiring for NSM?
This is the contract for Babcock to fit the additional equipment, not the supply of it. Article on Navy Lookout believes the biggest part of this is the insertion of Mk41 VLS.
Thx for the pointer. The timing of the CIP is encouraging; the NLO article says Mk41 will be fitted after contractor sea trials and acceptance by the RN.
we were told venturer would be ,’feet wet ‘ last summer. so what is really going on? the navy is desperate for the New ships and the yards are taking the p*** four years for a OPV? when a yard does this, why then is it regarded wit more lucrative contracts for frigates?it’s needs a better ASW package more than a MK41 VLS.
I suppose that’s for the extra work Babcock will need to undertake man hours wise not the actual cost of what is going in.
Not a lot.
Where does the MOD/RN specify that the T31s will get NSM ?
No where, however, with 11 sets of NSM being purchased, the T26 in all probability having anti ship/land attack missiles in the Mk41 cells then it would be realistic that the NSM when no longer required for the T23s would be transfered to the T31s.
Not specifically stated, but with the Type 45’s having 6 sets allocated, the Type 26’s likely having FC/ASW covering that role, that leaves 5 sets free.
That said 8 canister launched somethings that might well be a medium cost AsShM/Surface missile might be a useful augmentation to T26 as a Hi-Lo mix is required so inventory depth can be created and preserved.
No point in expending a £5m missile where a £200k [Sea Ceptor] one will do the job or a £1m [NSM] – values are grabbed out if the air to make the point.
Not sure this is any surprise. That said they really do need to get this type afloat to see just how good it is (or isn’t).
😁
Sorry, that was a reply to DB.
That’s a lot of money for 5 gimpys.
😁
Now we just need to see what they are being paid to be added.
Here we go again, pushing up costs by dicking about with specification during construction. When will UK MOD learn from previous cock-ups ? Decide what you want and then, during construction, you leave it the hell alone.
This is a post sea trials upgrade. Not a modification to the main contract
Also are you saying never upgrade a ship?
The point he is making is that the T31 capabilities are idiotic. A little more than an OPV.
Note i am not saying that was unnecessary to get a foot at the door for new ships, but the UK cretin political establishment forces this wasteful behavior.
get specs right in the first place and then it won’t neeed buggering about with
Get budgets right so that specs can be right…..
Also if you’d specified a full VLS farm and sonar and NSM then the tender returns would have been higher as it would say full fat frigate all over it.
Whereas RN said what can you build us for X budget that meets Y spec. Which has worked out quite well….hopefully they are good in service.
In an ever evolving environment that requires a response, for assets that takes years to build, this is exactly the time to make a spec change.
In this case better to have the Mk41s in place ASAP, rather than have years of service with the FFBNW excuse prevailing.
This is a post sea trials upgrade. Not a modification to the main contract
Yes, perfectly reasonable for Babcock to be paid in full when the RN has accepted what was originally contracted.
And Babcock will want to get to that contractual point for two reasons;
– ££££££ in bank; and
– it will mean that T31 is under builder then acceptance trials so interested purchasers can be shown around one that is making way.
So getting #1 into the water is a priority for everyone.
But #3 will almost certainly launch with VLS in place as the drivers for that and the build state when the decision was made were quite different.
Hi SB,
My reading of the comments above and previously from Babcock is that they will not change the build process, so I suspect that all the ships will get a CIP right after their sea trials. Babcock are new to the frigate build business so my guess is that they want to minimise risk at every step – especially as it was reported a couple of years ago that they are making a loss on the build program, about £70m across all 5 ships if I remember rightly..? Anyway, it as a few quid!
Great to know that these ships are being up gunned. A part from CAMM is there anything we can actually put in the VLS, yet? A few quad packed CAMM and NSM would be a good starter for 10.
Cheers CR
NavyLO says they are getting the Ancilia trainable decoy launcher and I think they already have the SSTD. I believe the Mk41 inserts enable the packing of 3 Ceptors per tube. I think that means that the minimum number of Ceptors would be 8×3=24. So with the guns a decent defensive package. On day one the offensive capability will be the guns and the Martlet and Sea Venom on the Wildcat. All in all a credible light frigate for forward based defence engagement roles and even RM raiding. NSM and more Mk41 tubes would be a significant offensive upgrades.
I thought the main reason for the Mk41 VLS was to enable land attack missiles like Tomahawks.
But, When and what ?
Be helpful to say in plan English what it all is, its an up grade but no details about it. And its to fit it not supply it. A rather vague story.
Due to manpower shortages, it sounds like they’ll use the same excuses to prevent the Type 31s going to sea, as they’ve done for the Type 45 Destroyers. Being fitted with this, being fitted with that, being fitted with the other….
Type 45 upgrades like PIP have been essential
The T45 PIP isn’t an upgrade, it’s a fix to a defective system that never should have went to sea.
Not strictly correct – the Power Supply issues with the WR21 set up were pretty much fixed by modifications and work arounds, what PIP adds is more resilience and extra capacity.
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I really wish that the MoD will say how the T31s will leave the shed, how will they be equipped. We, well at least those of us that have an interest in defence would like real information such as will the T31s have 8 or 32 Mk41 cells.
I for one can see the future if the 32 cells are installed where the T31 could become a very good surface combat vessel with one Mk41 block for quad packed CAMM, one block for quad CAMM-ER or dual packed MR, two blocks for land attack and upto 16 NSMs. If we could also fit a containorised CAPTAS 2/4 and two DragonFire systems the T31 would become a really good escort vessel.
5 new frigates are nice ! But 10 would be better. We need 5 squadrons of 6 ships a squadron, then 2 squadrons of destroyers. Bring back the 70s and 80s levels. Improve cammelaird and Harland and Wolfe
We can’t even crew 14 escorts
Yes, this is reality; but the sentiment is right. Crewing is the key constraint of RN changes. You can crew 3 x T31s for one LPD and ( almost) 2x T31 for one GP T23. If we are pulling back from Asia to Europe, the Atlantic, the High North and the Gulf we need more T31s for forward based presence and defence engagement. For now we don’t need expensive, crew intensive heavily armed full fat frigate escorts. What we need most urgently is another 5 of these T31s.
We raised many times more RN crews from a smaller population in the past. We just need to recruit, train, pay & look after RN personnel to encourage them to join & stay in the service. Probably best to return recruitment to the services.
We certainly need a considerably larger fleet. 19 escorts was too few some years back & where are we now? 14 or so & most T23s are geriatric, way past intended retirement. Absolute shambles. Get back to c30 escorts & we’ll have the start of a credible navy again.
So this is the exposed price in this case of fitted for but not with, rather than it being buried as a line item in a massive contract. Probably them there too.
At least the T31s and T26s are progressing. In contrast, the construction of the Constellation class appears to be very messy. Where the original concept was to have 85% commonality with the original FREMM class and 15% add ons, it appears the order has been reversed. See TWZ for the full story; the comments are scathing.
Better be quiet. T-26 build started in 2017 so almost 10 years ago and it is a less complex ship than Constellations.
The 15% vs 85% is just silliness talk.
It is never referred to what, because no ship can have 85% commonalty when from start you change all weapons , radars, combat systems, communications.
The Polish variant has Captas 2 and a hull sonar.
And a proper radar.
Richmond did ok with her Sea Ceptors and Artisan in the Red Sea. T31 with 32 Ceptors and 3 Bofors doesn’t need a Gucci flat face radar. Better off putting your money into CAMM-ER I would have thought.
Every RN escort needs a hull sonar for at least basic ASW work. Not an escort without one.
Sonar is T31 and T45 Achilles heel – they both need s better fit than have at moment. Not T26 standard but maybe a clip on unit etc. Given the RN’s limited surface fleet this should be a priority.
Sonar and AS weapons should be the priority. It is very unlikely that the 31s will go up against enemy surface ships. The NSM’s land attack capability would be more survivable if mounted on aircraft and trucks.
OK, so your ASM gapped escort comes across a large merchant that’s actually an sly auxilliary full of enemy troops or weapons like ASMs/land strike missiles. You need ASMs to cripple or sink her before she sinks your escort or does other damage.
Gapping basic capabilities just gives your enemies a free ride & is a danger to the crew & nation/allies depending on us.