Images show how HMS Cardiff, the second of eight Type 26 Frigates, looks today as the warship prepares for launch.
In the coming weeks, the frigate will be moved onto a barge soon before being transported to Glenmallan to be lowered into the water.
The vessel will then be brought back upriver, to Scotstoun instead of Govan, to continue fitting out. It is not quite a conventional launch, but a launch nonetheless.
I decided to turn up once again with a drone to document the progress of the ship.
Don’t worry, the footage was gathered in accordance with drone legislation, a flight plan was filed, and I’m fully insured and registered to do this kind of thing.
Click the below images to enlarge them.
She will be the last of the class to have her sections integrated on the hardstand in the open air, you can read more about the build hall in my recent article here.
The Royal Navy say that when operational, the eight Type 26s will be on the front line of the fleet’s defence against hostile submarines, replacing the eight existing Type 23 frigates, which perform the same duty – only in hulls designed 30 years earlier.
“In addition to their primary role, the 26s will be able to fend off air attack with Sea Ceptor missiles, pound targets ashore with a new main 5in gun, conduct disaster relief operations, and be equipped for a range of potential operations courtesy of an adaptable mission bay for hosting equipment such as drones, minehunting technology or Royal Marines raiding teams. All eight City-class ships have been ordered from BAE, with four (Belfast and Birmingham completing the initial quartet) under construction.”
Although construction and assembly are concentrated at BAE’s yards on the Clyde, some 120 firms and contractors are involved in the programme, which will run into the 2030s and support well over 4,000 jobs.
The Royal Navy’s version of the Type 26 frigate is equipped with cutting-edge technology. It features the Type 997 Artisan 3D search radar and Sea Ceptor (CAMM) air-defence missiles launched via 48 vertical launching system (VLS) canisters. Additionally, it has 24 Mark 41 “strike-length VLS” cells positioned forward of the bridge. Designed with future threats in mind, the Type 26 is set to accommodate the Anglo-French-Italian Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon.
Like the Type 23 frigate it replaces, the Type 26 is built for stealth in anti-submarine warfare, boasting an acoustically quiet hull and advanced sonar systems, including the Ultra Electronics Type 2150 bow sonar and the Sonar 2087 towed array. For defence, it’s armed with a BAE 5-inch, 62-calibre Mark 45 naval gun, two Phalanx CIWS, two 30mm DS30M Mark 2 Automated Small Calibre Guns, and a range of miniguns and machine guns.
The ship also features SEA’s Ancilia trainable decoy launcher for enhanced protection against missile threats. Its propulsion system uses a gas turbine direct drive and four high-speed diesel generators driving two electric motors in a combined diesel-electric or gas (CODLOG) configuration, powered by the MT30 gas turbine engine from Rolls-Royce.
Lovely set of pics of both the Ship and the Shed. It all seems to be coming together really well now.
Is it just me or does she look a bit like an oversized airfix model with that uniform protective covering..?
Great pictures as you say and good to know that there will soon be two T26 in the water, even if they are still fitting out. Another ship coming alive…
Cheers CR
My exact first thought too !!!!…. then I went down the Vinyl wrap route, then thought better of it !!!! 😁
Yeh, a closer look at the shed and you can see why they haven’t put the last of the roof steels in – allows them to assemble the two cranes at the front of the shed. One nearly done and bits of the second one waiting to get assembled once the first one can be moved out of the way… Interesting to see that.
Cheers CR
Wish they would crack on with that big shed. I want to know how they get the bits round to the new big shed from the old small sheds ! I’m happy they are getting on and wonder how many more can be built for foreign buyers like Norway. The North in fact whole country needs a ballistic missile defence system for all that’s going on there.
Air defence of the homeland is down to a few Typhoons on QRA, totally inadequate if things take an even worse turn than they already have…
Cheers CR
Its Madness. If I was Starmer I couldn’t sleep with so much at stake and so little insurance.
Starmer has now got the safest bed in the UK to retire to.
Don’t worry about him, worry about your family . He doesn’t give a single F—
He’ll probably have Dragonfire placed on the roof of number 10 too make his sleep even sounder
dragons? the way it is or rather not,, reportef on, concerns me a lot. so much hope and investment has gone into the project, and not even having a working test-bed in the red sea to fine tune in a low risk environment shooting down slow moving.drones,and expensive missile waste. is especially disappointing.
I won’t hold my breathe with the new Government Diversity training budget is more important than frontline equipment if the worse comes to the Fore at least we won’t get done for using harsh words
let’s hope he won’t have to.
we won’t see much change with starmer
Would be interesting to see her alongside a T23 and T45 for size comparisons and maybe a T21 which I believe was being looked at as a possible museum ship ?
There was a pic on NL of a T45 next to a T22 some time ago – the 45 Dwarfed it completely and the 22’s were considered big for a Frigate then.
I didn’t see that, I have seen lots of other pics that show sizes of QE and Invincible and QE with a rather much larger Cruise Ship and a T23 next to HMS Belfast.
Morning Baker. Slightly off topic, we are having a re-run of Bond Movies here in SA and it was amazing how much British Military hardware featured in those early 007 films. From V Bombers to some older frigates and a leading role for HMS Fearless plus some subs all featured during the Connery/Moore era. There was one where a RN Aircraft carrier came charging to the rescue at the close. It was Eagle,Hermes, old Ark Royal period-can’t remember which movie or carrier though.
The type 26 is a beaut!
Cheer from Durban
Hello to you too, and yes,I loved all the early Bond movies with all the UK stuff, it made it very realistic, unlike the last lot of films that just seemed to lose the whole essence of the originals.
Batch 2 type 22 were for a Frigate huge
sae that one.if it had published as a cruiser alongside it it would have been more in line with the scale people would expect, but I’ll never be happy with a ship that big, being labelled a frigate
T21? Have Pakistan retired one recently?
Yes, It was the old Ambuscade and she has been offered.
it was last year that Pakistan retired it’s last T2,which they had reconfigured in order to reedignate them as destroyers
or alongside the old Belfast, where every other new addition has a photo opportunity
Super pictures – many thanks
I think the AI got a little confused in some of the pictures.lol
Personally I think they are an attractive design that despite their size will look pretty sleek and rakish.
In comparison FREMM looks looks like a bit of a pig!
On a similar note – when is HMS Venturer launching? Isn’t she supposed to be in the water already?
I think Venturer is a little hesitant to “venture forth” or indeed, “into the forth” !!!!
Cracks me right up writing this sort of stuff ! 😁
Forth-right comments Baker.Ad-venturous stuff for a sober Sunday. Talking of Sunday, in South Africa of old run by the Calvinist Afrikaans government of the day, fishing in the Vaal river on the Orange Free State side of the water, was prohibited on the Sabbath. On the Natal side of the river which formed the border between the two Provinces you could fish away with impunity, but only the most Fearless or Intrepid anglers would risk the Revenge of the SA Police by baiting up in the OFS.
Hows that😂
😂
Indefatigable
Last Info was some pictures taken in April , the hull looks structurally complete, but needs some paint.
it was stated in the navy news paper, that venturer would be in the water mid 3034. don’t know what happened to that plan.
They say if it looks right it is right. If there is any truth in that then T26 is a world beater. Beautiful ship. Good work George. Great pics.
Couldn’t they slip in a Dragonfire somewhere pretty please
Will probably be on T45 or such first, not ready at all to deploy yet though.
Time is of the essence , one would have thought
??? probably planned for somewhere else on the superstructure
Just wondering, any news / photos of HMS Glasgow recently, haven’t spotted anything for months (or I haven’t looked carefully enough)…
Lovely to see the rebirth of the RN frigate fleet taking shape even though there is still a way to go. The headline photo above shows just how big they are when looking at her size in relation to the men working on her deckl!
Amy opportunity to speed up the fitting out should be sought and implemented we need our shipsASAP.
From the RN website
“ Glasgow is in the closing stages of fitting out at BAE’s Scotstoun works “
Naval News published an article back in April and BAE were saying Glasgow would be moved to a wet dock in the Autumn to make room for Cardiff, be named in 2025, with trials and handover in 2026 and IOC in 2028.
So still moving forward in line with post COVID expectations it seems.
Cheers CR
Interesting discussion thread on NavyLookout about options to ameliorate the lack of seaworthy frigates; one poster suggesting enhancing a few of the batch 2 Rivers to a level for GP duties and replacing them with leased platform supply vessels like Ulstein PX121. Feasible and creative I thought.
Hmm, interesting suggestion. Might be even more interesting if the RN / MoD had pushed ahead with the PODS concept. I believe this is still in the works, but I wonder if it has slowed down somewhat as we I have not seen anything of late…
Cheers CR
PODS concept was mentioned. Entirely feasible way to ‘make’ an OPV I think; but one without the diplomatic ‘’presence’ the Rivers. Who wants to go to a cocktail party or exercise with an oil rig supply ship? Also, recent events call into question the value of enhancing the Rivers. Debating the finer points of whether T31 without ASW qualifies as a GP frigate or is ‘only’ a patrol frigate misses the point. The Houthi have just increased the minimum spec warship required in the Red Sea to something that looks uncannily like T31 with Mk41 filled with Sea Ceptors. A… Read more »