The competition to provide through-life support for the Royal Navy’s Type 31 frigates has been discontinued after the department concluded that the assumptions behind it no longer held, according to answers given in Parliament.
Ben Obese-Jecty, the Conservative member for Huntingdon, asked what plans the Secretary of State had to replace the abandoned requirement, and separately in what way the assumptions underpinning it no longer held. Both questions referred to the corrigendum to tender 707770451, entitled Type 31 Through Life Support, published on 22 July.
Luke Pollard, Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, said:
“The Type 31 Through Life Support procurement was discontinued following a review of the proposed approach. The Department concluded that the assumptions underpinning that procurement no longer reflected the most appropriate route for delivering support to the Type 31 class. Those assumptions included the delivery context for the programme and the way in which future support arrangements should be structured. The requirement to provide effective through-life support for the Type 31 fleet remains unchanged.
“The Department is now considering the most appropriate arrangements to meet that requirement. Any future procurement activity will be taken forward in accordance with Defence requirements, value for money considerations and established commercial procedures.”
A third question from Mr Obese-Jecty turned to the programme’s budget, asking when the minister planned to reset the Approved Budgetary Limit to mitigate the impact of inflation, with reference to the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority Major Projects Annual Report for 2025 to 2026.
Mr Pollard said: “The Ministry of Defence keeps the affordability of all major programmes under continual review. In common with other enterprises, the Type 31 programme is experiencing inflationary pressures, and the impact of possible costs is being assessed. Any changes to programme budgets and approvals will be considered through the Department’s established governance processes. It would therefore be inappropriate to speculate on the timing of any future decisions.”
The answers give no indication of what the revised support model might look like. Type 31 covers five Inspiration class frigates under construction by Babcock at Rosyth.
Tongue in cheek, but it would be “Inspiration-al” if they ordered a few more of these T31s. Having more than five would give more availability to spread and sustain presence. We know, no money.
Interestingly I’m not sure that money is the key issue at this point.
Everyone wants to see them built and having passed sea trials etc.
Since being ordered requirements have changed a little. It will be interesting to see how T31 can meet the future.
Looks increasingly likely that the T31 is going to be massively delayed, I suspect that’s why the support contract is being cancelled.
Everyone was too optimistic what Babcock could do starting from scratch.
Well, if you don’t have any Type 31s you don’t need a support contract, I suppose. Difficult to avoid the conclusion that the financial pressures have focussed in on Type 31 as the sacrificial lamb. Looks like the 8 RN T26, the 5 Norwegian ships + the Type 9X and maybe the MCMV motherships cum OPVs have got what money there is. A miracle export order from the Danes would be good.
I think any chance of the Danes buying the T31 are long gone. Delay after delay after delay. The Koreans with their HDF 6000 or the French FDI are I expect the new front runners
Very possibly; that said, fitting out Venturer and Active to a RN ‘patrol frigate’ spec while directing other manufacturing effort to the 3 other hulls is consistent with expecting a different, currently being decided, systems and weapons fit for the later ships.
My bet is the T31class will be sold to the Danes. The Government is fast running out of money. In a way therefore the T31’s are the Canary Class as they show just how dire is not just Defence but the country as a whole. That’s politics and we dont want that do we?
The critical issue here also applies to T26s: the first 31s are prototypes and the moment the programme hits snags, the press immediately speculates all kinds of nonsense. These ships will get into service but typically not necessarily within the planned timescale.
I agree. Notwithstanding that Babcock are on a steep learning curve and having to build industrial capacity from scratch I think the main constraint causing delay is the customer.
I don’t think they have a steep learning curve. They actually sold project management systems and other advanced ship building tools to the Indonesian shipbuilder PT PAL. Probably the biggest contributor to the British economy from the Indonesian Arrowhead deal.
PT PAL itself has been quite active these past couple of decades. Its current head is a Japanese educated professional. He probably won’t sign up to it if those systems weren’t actually useful for the field. They know what they’re doing at least.
So, Babcock at least have a good idea on what they’re doing. Industrial capacity might be a problem though. Would be interesting to see if the Indonesian version with Turkish systems actually gets accepted into service faster or not.
I would think industrial capacity, and particularly skilled workforce shortages, are key elements in the delay. Apparently the welding done by the 300 Fillopinos was not up to scratch and had to be partly (or maybe wholly) redone. On the knock-down price of the T31s, Babcock likely can’t afford to compete on wages for skilled workers and it will be a few years before their academy apprentices learn the practical skills and start to add value.
If the RN hadn’t taken an extended holiday from frigate building – likely to be 14 or 15 years since the last escort entered service! – in order to fund the two carriers, Babcock, BAES and the escort fleet would be in a much healthier position today.
I read that the next two T26 are going to Norway, so we should look forward to a Frigate destroyer force of 8 by 2030. Thats all folks.
Jonno, this is a thorny issue; however, if the next two do go to Norway, it does make some sense in terms of the long game. Norway is probably the most trustworthy ally we could have and it appears that concept T26 would result in a common cause with regular crew exchanges and a sizeable force of frigates. In principle, other forces should attempt to create deeper integration to ensure a tangible bond between key European countries. I can see no reason why British tank crews could not be exchanged to achieve multi-functional forces who could, if push came to shove, operate each other’s kit. I know current protocols prohibit such activity but with the possibility of the US withdrawing the majority of its forces from Europe, it might be time to grow up and face such a situation in a creative fashion. That’s not overlooking substantial cost savings across the board.
Agree with you about Norway particular now the Danes have shown exactly what a trusted friend and allie they are not by supplying Argentina with F16 when they are desperately needed by Ukraine . I have served with the Danes in many theatres , Bosnia, Kosovo , Iraq and they are good soldiers ( and I am sure sailors too ) and I have many friends but I can’t forgive this unbelievable action by their government – treachery is in the extreme. . If they expect us to dig in on Nuuk airports runway alongside them and as we were prepared to protect Greenland from Trump they can now go to F*CK.
Heavens there isn’t an international arms embargo on Argentina, they are perfectly entitled to replace their clapped-out fighter aircraft and subs! Equally, Denmark is entitled to sell off its old F-16s, and German yards to build 3 SSKs for Argentina. If they don’t provide them, there’s a lot of other nations that will
If we have a problem with Argentina having a small and pretty rudimentary armed forces, the answer is simple enough: deploy a few more Typhoons, a few more Sky Sabre launchers and some of these T9X unmanned vessels to the Falklands, just in case.
To clarify the Danish F16 sale. The US put the pressure on the Danes to sell the F16s to Argentina and probably the UK to not interfere with the sale. Bearing in mind these F16s had a limited mid-lift upgrade, not the full one. So cannot be armed with the latest AMRAAM C or D series missiles. Yes they were initially earmarked for Ukraine. But the US has an urgent need to supply Argentina with the aircraft. The urgency was driven by China cosying up to Argentina with the promise of supplying military hardware in exchange for better trade agreements and fishing rights. The US are desperate to keep China out of South America (Chile and Argentina in particular). As the US uses the the South Atlantic passage as its gateway into the Pacific for its carriers, as they’re too big for the Panama Canal. I think the US were right to be concerned as the Chinese would inevitably make sure they include military advisors as part of the deal, along with their coast guard to protect their fishing interests. Which would then help to better monitor the location of the US carriers.
So I wouldn’t blame the Danish Government for this. Besides it keeps Argentina away from China and Chinese influence. Imagine the scenario if China had supplied Argentina’s wish list of modern aircraft, ships, air defences etc. Instead of facing some old F16s, we would be faced with JF-17s, Type 054 frigates, Yuan class SSKs, HQ9 (Chinese version of the S400) and probably force enablers such as tanker and AEW aircraft. For us this should be looked on as a win, because although Argentina will eventually get around 24 F16s, they are still no match for a Typhoon
Thanks very interesting – I get your.point.
We have been reasonable lucky that the Argentinian Armed Forces have become as weak as they currently are.
WE need as a country to boost development of a range of weapons to defend this country and others.
I would be highly surprised if we were unable come up with all sorts of troublesome weapons which would unbalance Argentina.
The 24 F16s are only part of a massive effort needed make a landing possible. They haven’t got most of what they need.
I would also say that their first priority should threats from other countries. The Falklands makes good politics in Argentina however their more immediate neighbours are their first problem.
I think you are right there are some benefits in letting Norway have the next 2 T26s. However it will be the mid 2030s before we see any more in full RN commission. Now with the halting, as I see it, of the T31 program, we are in dire straits and all set for just 8 Escorts! When the T45s go we will never have more than 8 even if we get all 8 T26. Burnham really is clueless and until we get rid of these clueless types, things don’t look good at all.
Seeing Pongoglo comments, Yes it was dumb of Denmark to sell Argentina the F16s. If they hadn’t someone else would. Trump is destabilising everyone in a chaotic fashion, although we are doing it to ourselves.
If you are going to sell them, no need for a support contract.
Sounds like a lot of Ministry of Defence Civil Servants Redefining their Jobs to me…!
outside government and mod speak it means even more delays. As usual.
Another f up incoming what with the delays announced a few days back, no official in service date and now this cancellation. What’s going on up at Babcock? I wouldn’t be surprised now if the next announcement is going to be a full cancellation in favour of the much vaulted ‘hybrid fleet’.
Hybrid fleet is An Excuse to save money ..!
T83 was Cancelled becouse Starmer could not find the money…And that while Hybrid Navy still in basic Concapt form…! Who knows what problems they’ll find..??
Hybrid Navy..???? Be Honest We can’t build a bog standard t31 Frigate with No Anti Submarine Capabilites..!!!
If you push me I would say that Venturer and Active will join the RN as patrol or GP frigates ( needed as batch 2 Rivers are pulled back to replace the batch 1s from 2028) but that Campbeltown, Formidable and Bulldog could end up either being finished as Danish AAW destroyers or as T9X unmanned hub ships in the RN. The recent parliamentary statements on T31 in service dates suggest to me the govt are keeping their options open.
Its not Babcock its Manchester.
It’s been cancelled because the Type 31’s are so far behind schedule but they’re too cowardly to admit it.
Yeah, hints to a significant T31 delay. Makes no sense to have a support contract now.
Desperately need a general election asap
The sooner Labour scum are removed from office the better.
Indeed. I suggest Burnham and the Chief ministers of Scotland and Wales absent themselves from the Cenotaph on Remembrance. All three are doing what Hitler couldn’t. Look no further if you want rumours. I heard the Germans approached the fledgling Scots Nats in POW camp.
Oh yeah and the Tory’s served UK defence so well
But who currently is the viable alternative?
Not sure this is just because of delivery delays. The cancellation notice suggests a new approach to through life support is being considered.
The contract notice was first published in 2023. So with commissioning of the first boat not likely before 2030, cancellation makes sense.