HMS Cardiff, the second Type 26 City Class frigate, is under construction in Govan, Glasgow.
The ship is undergoing structural work before being floated and transported to BAE Systems’ Scotstoun facility in 2024 for outfitting.
Drone footage shows the current state of HMS Cardiff in Glasgow and also work on BAE Systems new ship build hall. The new 'frigate factory' will consist of more than 6,000 tonnes of steel and 20,000m3 of concrete. It will be able to fit two Type 26 Frigates side by side. pic.twitter.com/PreOCWjewl
— UK Defence Journal (@UKDefJournal) November 25, 2023
For the avoidance of doubt, the drone footage was obtained legally by a qualified person in adherence to UK drone legislation and guidance. In addition, the drone is insured, and a flight plan was submitted using drone safety software.
Here are some drone images showing the progress as of today, HMS Cardiff can also be seen. HMS Cardiff will be the last frigate to have its hull sections integrated in the open air on the hardstanding.
Simon Lister, Managing Director of BAE Systems’ Naval Ships business, previously expressed pride and satisfaction in the progress.
“The emergence of HMS Cardiff is a very proud moment for everyone involved in her construction. We have now completed all major units of the ship and in the coming weeks our skilled teams will consolidate the ship in preparation for next year’s float off,” Lister said.
The first Type 26 frigate, HMS Glasgow, is currently being outfitted at BAE Systems’ Scotstoun facility. The construction of the eight Type 26 frigates is expected to last to the mid-2030s. HMS Glasgow is anticipated to be the first of the fleet to join the Royal Navy in the mid-2020s.
HMS Cardiff will be the last frigate to have its hull sections integrated in the open air on the hardstand. This is due to the construction of a new £100m-plus ship build hall at the Govan site, which will allow the integration process for the remaining six ships to take place under cover, making it less susceptible to weather conditions.
The build hall has come along since the last update.
Yes the build hall seems to be coming along nicely. I wonder when it is due to be finished?
Order another one please Rishi and call it HMS Port Stanley. That’ll do wonders for diplomatic relations.
Another madcap project of mine regarding conversions of T26s and their hulls based on these points: There is an open space above the mission bay on the 26s that is currently earmarked for “Future equipment”. The beam of the T26 is 20.5m Could this space be used to launch Qinetiq’s Vampire drones? The catapult is 16m long and would be mounted sideways in the manner of WW2 British battleships. Either: A hangar would be positioned between the current comms masts and a crane placed on one beam to lift the drones directly from the water Or: The drones would be… Read more »
If they can do it with a Walrus they can do it with a drone.
Walrus was a propeller driven amphibian not a modern jet or turbofan drone
The australians are thinking about swapping out the mission bays for more missile silos on the Hunter class. If they do it is speculated they would carry more missiles than a Ticonderoga or even a Chinese type 55.
I saw that, looks very good for what the Australians need. No MCM, not much escort, just ASW and ASuW, for which packing loads of VLS is ideal. The flexibility of mission bay area is what gave me above idea, actually. Pity you can’t have both!
What would they fill them with?
That would be a lot of Tomahawks and you can only have so many SM-2 and SM-3.
I don’t Know what else there is
AA and ASuW missiles , there is a good article about it on the Navy Lookout website
Why? What is the point? Just use a cam-copter or one of the new conventional vertical take off drones like the T-600 they can do all the same things the only difference is speed
Speed is the key difference, actually. I’m not well-informed as to the particulars of ASW but pretty sure taking only 1/4 the time to reach your last known sonar contact is a good thing. Vampire ought to be able to operate in enemy air defence (The new ones need special reflectors to have the RCS even of an anti ship missile) where Camcopter would really struggle.
I got this all wrong the drone is Jackdaw not Vampire, according to Qinetiq
Why is it taking 9 years to build a ship?
Because of a list of poor choices made by BAE, in addition to a loss of skills after the carriers because of the MOD messing about with the T26 design.
It’s not BAE slowing the project down. They offered to build cheaper and faster, build 13 for a fixed price among other offers.
The slow build rate is what the government wants.
Speed up the build, and order 3 more before the next GE.
Look to experience gained from the Hunter programme and improve the AAW nature of the B3.
I’m curious to see when the new construction hall is ready, will the in progress sections of Belfast and Birmingham be moved there straight away which would make room to start work on Sheffield and Newcastle.