The Ministry of Defence has set out in a written answer why it terminated the plan to convert HMS Iron Duke, confirming that the project failed to meet the threshold for continued investment once timelines, cost, and service life were assessed in detail.
Responding to Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, Defence Minister Luke Pollard said the MoD “keeps all capability programmes under regular review to ensure they remain affordable, deliver value for money, and align with operational priorities.”
He added that the decision followed “a comprehensive assessment” of the ship and the proposed work.
The abandoned plan would have taken a Type 2087 towed array sonar system from a decommissioned Type 23 frigate and retrofitted it to Iron Duke. The concept only made sense if the frigate’s remaining years in service justified the investment and the time it would spend unavailable during the conversion. According to Pollard, those calculations no longer worked.
He stated plainly that “given the platform’s remaining Service life, the time required to complete the conversion, and competing operational priorities, the benefits of proceeding did not justify the additional cost or extended period out of service.”
On that basis, he said, “resources were therefore re-prioritised to deliver greater operational effect.”
In other words, it’s knackered.
Aren’t we all !!!
Anyway, I’ve enjoyed it here this past few months, lot’s of laughs, see you in the next one.
Thanks. 👋👋
lol. yeah
So couldn’t she have been kept on as a GP frigate, ie minus the ASW equipment? Presumably that would have reduced the cost and time out of service.
I thought she is being kept on, it’s just that what life she has left isn’t enough to justify putting her in dock to fit the equipment and get any useful life afterwards for the costs involved?
They enter the refit.. but the first bit of that is assessment.. not one of them has ever got to the end..
So as I have said a number of times no T23 has yet survived beyond the 6 year point after its lifex. HMG have given different reasons for each.. from crew to to expensive to undertake the 6 year refit.. but the simple fact is no type 23 has come out of that refit.. iron duke is not due that refit for 4 years in 2029.. this essentially acknowledges what I have been saying for a while the likely risk no type 22 is getting beyond that point.. this means by 2029 only the last three frigates to come out of lifex will be in service and the very last one Sutherland will be gone in 2030.. this means it’s very likely the only frigates the RN will have by the end of 2030 will be whichever T31s and T26s it’s managed to get to initial operational capability.. so maybe 4 frigates.. so if Cardiff goes to Norway that’s 1 type 26 and 2 type 31s ( note operational is not commissioned.. operational comes a 18 months or so after commissioning for first in class and 6-8 months for follow up ships)…2030 may be 29-2031 may be a very low point for the RN ( 3-4 frigates).. let’s hope Russia does not decide to go to war..
It’s gonna be hard. However the new type 31s should be way more efficient and should be able to work very hard in the first 5 years of their life, especially if we can double crew 1-2 of them.
In terms of 2030. If we have no type 23 that’s a shame but realistic.
By 2030 we should have 3 type 31 at full capacity with last 2 within 12-18 months from that.
For type 26s we should certainly have 2-3 even if one goes to Norway. And then an additional one within 12-18 after.
So I’m gambling on 5-6 frigates fleet, with it increasing to 8-9 online by 2032.
If there is any money the type 32 with could deliver the 5 extra frigates in the 2032-2035 time frame would be a life saver in the medium term.
We don’t yet know how the type 26s will be split, and also they may be able to increase production to 1 per 9 months
Hi Thomas the key threat from the Russian navy is SSNs type 31 will be good for may things but it will be sod all good for that..
Type 26 wise.. if the second one is given to Norway it will only have one operational in 2030.. HMS Belfast is probably not going to be operational until very late 2030 or 2031..
Also remember new ships generally go into a rectification refit after they finish their final stage sea trails..
One ASW frigate is not enough for even basic RN must do tasks.
Also isn’t HMS Kent undergoing post life extension work and staying in service ? I thought it was.
It was one of the quicker programs.
If so, if went in mid 2024…. Unsure when it will come out but sat mid 2026… that would take its end of service life as 3032.
Which would add an extra frigate. Personally no matter how long HMS Lancaster would take that should be forced to undergoing an overhaul which would allow two type 23s to work in the early 2030 and as I said above by 2032/33 then we should have 5 type 31s and 5 or so type 26s
There goes another one!
It is a cross multi-party scandal wrt to the state of the Royal Navy.
Question, if there is a spare or a few spare type 2087 TAS available could we not install them on the T31s whilst they are still in construction. I know it would delay the new ships by a few months, then again possibly not. We could look at the Danes and see how they have adapted the AbSalon class for TAS. As both types of ships are related there should not be a major issue. I also know the T31 will not be a T26 but it will improve the ASW ability of the RN.