A major milestone in the construction of the Royal Navy’s fourth Type 26 frigate, HMS Birmingham, has been reached as a massive section of the warship arrived in Glasgow today.

The 850-tonne lower propulsion block, built at Cammell Laird in Birkenhead, was transported by barge up the River Clyde before reaching the BAE Systems shipyard at Govan, where it will be consolidated into the growing structure of the ship.

This section, a critical part of Birmingham’s propulsion system, underscores the collaborative effort between British shipyards to deliver the next generation of anti-submarine warfare frigates.

Accelerating Type 26 Production

Portions of the Type 26 frigates are being constructed at partner shipyards before being transported to Glasgow for final assembly. Cammell Laird’s role in fabricating this significant section ensures that production remains efficient, preventing bottlenecks and allowing BAE Systems to maintain momentum as multiple ships are built simultaneously.

BAE Systems told me previously:

“We have outsourced steelwork fabrication for a limited number of units to support delivery of the Type 26 programme. This is typical for a programme of this scale and offers an opportunity for UK companies to play their part on this national endeavour.”

With the arrival of this block, HMS Birmingham moves another step closer to taking shape, following in the footsteps of her sister ships:

  • HMS Glasgow is currently outfitting ahead of her first sea trials.
  • HMS Cardiff is also in the outfitting phase at Scotstoun.
  • HMS Belfast recently became the first Type 26 frigate to begin assembly in the new Janet Harvey Hall, with a section of her hull now inside the state-of-the-art facility.

Once complete, HMS Birmingham will join the Royal Navy’s fleet of advanced anti-submarine warfare frigates, designed to operate alongside carrier strike groups and protect vital sea lanes. The Type 26 class is equipped with advanced sonar, a mission bay for adaptable operations, and a cutting-edge propulsion system that enhances its stealth and efficiency at sea.

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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  2. Ah, my question has been answered. I went for a walk along the pier head two weeks ago, and the Cammell Laird shed door was open with a big inside covered. Now I know. TBH, I kind of guessed, but it was a block. Nice to see the shed up, update soon hopefully.

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      • Of course you do dear, keep taking the tablets, best if you double the dose….

        Good to hear that Norway could also be buying the Type 26, being preferred over the German, French & Spanish offerings.

  3. BEAS is really freeing up fabrication capacity at Govan with all this outsourcing of T26 blocks – Cammell Laird, Ferguson, A&P. Presumably it’s part of the effort to convince Norway (and the UK’s MOD!) that it can fit in an order for 5 T26’s, and deliver them at a reasonable pace. The bottleneck will presumably be the ability of Scotstoun to fit them out – I think it can handle a max of three ships at a time. Giving a few crumbs to other UK shipyards is politically sound as it increases the number of MPs/MSPs with a vested interest in the MOD placing a steady stream of naval orders, and encourages a seamless transition from T26 to T83 in the mid-2030’s.

  4. Nice to see the build shed all painted up and operational.
    George, do you reckon we could have a peek inside?

  5. Great to see this. Excellent. The T26 and T31 programs which are rebuilding the RN make nexus of a lot of relationships being built across UK industry and across the Atlantic between the UK partner nations; Norway, Canada, Denmark, Netherlands + Australia. Mark Carney visited Macron today and is here visiting Starmer; significantly he rated a meeting King Charles. Is the US isolated? 🙂

    • I think you grossly under estimate the size and importance of the US. We have the fifth or sixth biggest economy. Sounds impressive until you realise that equal California’s GDP. The Japanese, Koreans and Australians aren’t going to dump US tech because the EU and Starmer want to use the very unlikely prospect of a war with Russia so they can tax us to death and steal our savings. Europe is in danger of isolation not the US. A PM who is un-elected visiting two leaders whose approval rating at home has utterly collapsed is hardly an omen of success is it?

      • Oh dear Stephanie, spouting more BS I see.

        Europe is moving away from US military equipment because the US is proving unreliable, and as Trump is starting to wage his trade wars with Australia now too, they are seeing the incentive to stop buying American. The only reason people are dumping US tech, is the behaviour of the US administration.

        But hey, those facts just don’t sit well with your narrative does it?

          • Ah Alex shows up, good rule of thumb whenever Alex, whose mask is increasingly slipping, shows says something, it’s good to assume the opposite is the truth.

            Europe not “respecting” it’s own word? Which European nation has threatened to use force to gain the territory of others? Remind me, which European Nations refused to help the USA when it used Article V?

            Yeah bore off.

      • The US is becoming a pirah state by it’s choosing. It’s current administration has thrown away a century of foreign policy wins.

      • Importance is not the same as moral authority. People listen to the UK precisely because we respected the dignity of the empire nations and empowered their independence. Not saying we did everything perfectly by a long chalk, but we respected their wishes. By throwing its weight about in a selfish and greedy way the US is in danger of trashing its moral standing and losing its friends.

        • Since W. Europe is friends with USA? America is the only country that W. Europe trash mouths. We despise half of Americans for decades at same time not paying our own defence that we agreed with them and telling the texan boy we hate their culture should come to die in our soil.

          • Ah the idiot is referencing not paying for defence during a time when Europe had exactly zero threats to it’s security, and yet still the EU was the third highest defence spender on the planet?

            Yeah masks definitely slipping.

          • The US reduced defence spending during Trump 1 I assume to give benefits to his oligarch mates, he talks about reducing it now strangely too, to certainly do the same on a far larger scale while dangling carrots to the ordinary people they will never receive as he removes the mechanisms that could provide it to them. We all know Europe has under financed defence but that was ironically not only because there was a deemed peace dividend but very much to demonstrate to Russia that we were anything but a threat. Of course perceived threat has nothing to do with Putin’s policies as even any half brained individual would see. Equally the US defence budget has a far wider remit than that of Europe and thus the figures the US gives are not as ‘unequal’ (as they do with Ukraine aid too) as they want their useful idiots within to think. Finally the US as we see now has always wanted effective control over NATO Europe is allowed to talk but the US wants to pull all the strings. Therefore a Europe that contributed as much or effectively more for European defence would have repercussions for US hegemony in such matters. Can’t have it both ways, but while most Presidents have seen that logic actually benefits them on the World stage as with almost everything else Trump/Musk has taken a chainsaw too the downsides end up open Pandoras Box and end up worse to far worse to American power and influence in the World. That World is moving away from them and no number of hissyfits is going to change that trend. Europe has always been vital to US stability whatever the spats losing sight if that is delusional and by the time they understand that it will be too late.

            As for culture et al, don’t independent Countries have a right to preserve their own culture these days? The US has always used it as a form of cultural Imperialism for control over populations which is why Trump’s closest dictator mates understand very well and thus restrict or attempt to manipulate it very successfully as it turns out. Oddly Trump has taken a dislike to that u less it suits him like TikTok suddenly.

          • when it’s said that we have such a great economy, why is it then that defence has been neglected and butchered so heavily? because it takes a wa to get it’s necessity brought into focus. w countlessly ignore, or choose to ignore history and repeat the mistakes of the past. when WW1started, our forces were still at the level they were in for the boer wars. the submarine menace in the first world war, people forget, was every bit as worrying as in the second. our failure to maintain SSK level of the silent service with the Oberon’s is a mistake on a level of ineptitude hitherto untested

      • powerful figures in Australia are advocating moving away from AUKUS and reopen discussions with France over Suffren class. This follows statements from within US that Trump may not approve interim sale to Aus as US production rate is about 2/3 of where it needs to be. Suffered class is thought to be better suited to shallower waters north of Australia.

        • We will see but I can’t honestly see how Australia will get on with a smaller submarine with less endurance (on a Submarine space equates to food and gash). Also there is the small matter of using completely different weapons, CMS and having to refuel every 10 years with LEU.

      • The population of Europe i believe is around 500 million with a total defence spenditure combined the second largest just below USA and way above China and Russia. Russia population 100 million .

          • …which is why they wanted to integrate 40million Ukranian Slavs into their population to ‘re-balance’ their declining ‘Slav-ness’ while stealing their children, let alone overall population decline, even as he kills off many of those non Slav nominally ‘Russian’ citizens (but in reality colonies) and no doubt to use as yet more cannon fodder in any war, if they run out of non-Slavs, as some Slavs are clearly more equal than others in their thinking to paraphrase Orwell. Perhaps why Stalin starved up to 3 million of them in the thirties.

      • Just confirming… You say “Europe is in danger of isolation, not the US”. So… the US =1 country, Europe = lots of countries. I’m confused…

        • The whole World is removing itself gradually from US influence and the binding chains of the petro-dollar. Africa Asia, South America are all slipping the noise and Trump has just given BRICS the biggest injection of expansion anyone could and it’s already far bigger in population, trade and GDP than the US. He has even tried to threaten Brazil a future mega power how stupid is that, insulted South Africa , a deeply influential power and put doubts in the minds of Japan and South Korea where discussions over nuclear weapons has re surfaced. Even the Philippines which went China then back to the US is trying to patch up with China again. India wonder what they think of the anti Indian rhetoric from the US stirred up by someone who has an Indian wife that’s how mad it’s become. Fact is all these countries who have traditionally and will even now show superficial respect to agent orange and his regime are both moving away from reliance upon them or like India and other growing powers will play off needed friendship and influence against various powers for their own benefit. Hey do we forget how even China played that game for decades till increasingly they no longer need to? Trump barely looks upon the day for his plans so is totally disinterested to the danger he is creating for his Country and the World more generally. He shares the delusion that the US is an impregnable island a myth they will with these policies eventually learn to regret big time. But even sane Presidents struggled with that nationalist sentiment of all powerful exceptionalism over we mere mortals in the rest of the World. What’s happening in the US now is out of weakness (certainly internally perceived) not strength.

    • Significantly ? There’s nothing significant about it, Mark Carney is Prime Minister of Canada which is a constitutional Federal Monarchy with HM as head of state. Other than not having a Knighthood he has exactly the same status as Sir Keir Starmer

  6. I have to say BAe are doing exactly what they said they would when awarded the B2 Contract for 5 Frigates, they’d increase the delivery schedule and use blocks built elsewhere. It’s shades of the T45 build and when they got that cooking it was very impressive build schedule. Unfortunately our moronic Government pulled the plug at 6 instead of 8 (originally it was 12).
    Does anyone have connections at CL ? I’d love to know how much pre-outfitting has been carried out ?

  7. Doesn’t look like there’s very much in way of hull structure inside the build hall for the third ship, if anything it must be minimal .

    • The stern section of Belfast is already in Janet Harvey hall.
      I assume no ship construction is happening in there yet, as the hall itself is still under construction.The

  9. BAE Systems “We have outsourced steelwork fabrication for a limited number of units to support delivery of the Type 26 programme. This is typical for a programme of this scale and offers an opportunity for UK companies to play their part on this national endeavour.”

    Very disappointing statement and outdated thinking, the Far Eastern Shipyards achieve their fast build times by designing and building the individual modules as near 100% complete as possible before assembling the complete ship as to minimise time fitting out.

  10. The T26 programme isnt going fast enough for my liking. Especially if one of our building T26s is bumped to Norway to win that business by fitting with their schedule demands. Feels like we need another shipyard. Such short-sightedness that we let yards on Tyneside, in Southampton and Portsmouth close.

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